Republicans in Colorado will forego voting for a presidential candidate at their 2016 caucuses, making the key battleground state the first to withdraw from the early nominating process.
Executive members of the state’s GOP committee decided in an unanimous vote last week to eliminate the presidential straw poll first held by the state party in 2008, according to the Denver Post.
While the results of the poll were previously non-binding — meaning delegates elected to the state’s convention were not required to support whichever candidate came out on top — a new rule adopted by the Republican National Committee would force delegates from Colorado to support the leading candidate in their state at the RNC convention next July.
Fearing that delegates could find themselves bound to a candidate who wins the straw poll but pulls out of the race prior to the national convention, Colorado’s GOP determined it would be better to remove that risk altogether.
“Eliminating the straw poll means the delegates we send to the national convention in Cleveland will be free to choose the candidate they feel can best put America back on a path to prosperity and security,” Steve House, chairman of the state GOP, told the local 7News in Denver. “No one wants to see their vote cast for an empty chair, especially not on a stage as big as the national convention’s.”
However, Republican state leaders are at odds over whether the move will boost the frequency at which candidates choose to campaign in Colorado or weaken the state’s overall role in selecting the next GOP nominee.
Former state GOP chairman Ryan Call says the decision is likely to reduce frustrations that previously existed among voters who participated in the preference poll, only to find out later that the results did not affect which candidate state delegates could choose to support. But Call says eliminating the poll will “dramatically reduce” the effort candidates have previously made to court voters in the Centennial State during the primary season.
“It’s bound to have an impact,” Call told the Washington Examiner. “Candidates that have limited resources will have to make some judgment calls and, given that Colorado will not elect our national delegates until mid-April, most candidates will probably spend their time campaigning in states that have their contests earlier in the year.”
Still, Call, like several others, predicts that Colorado will be a coveted state in the general election, causing “smart candidates” to continue building a presence as they anticipate being the eventual Republican nominee.
“Colorado is still a purple state. It’s still up for grabs. And it’s still a difference-maker when the [general] election is going to be held,” a spokesperson for the state’s Republican Party told 7News.
Meanwhile, Colorado’s Democratic Party has left its caucuses unchanged and will move forward with its own straw poll on Super Tuesday — or March 1, 2016. According to the Post, other states with presidential preference polls are currently weighing whether to follow Colorado’s lead.
