While there’s been substantial coverage over confusion between the upcoming non binding Republican state run primary and the party-run caucus there’s been much less attention on the Democratic Party and its own ho-hum presidential primary, no longer a caucus as used to be the case, now entrusted to the state’s election mechanisms, which here means the Washoe County Registrar of Voters.
Locally registered Democrats just started receiving their mail-in ballots for the party’s February 6th presidential primary in the Silver State, but besides President Joe Biden one could wonder who are these other candidates?
Mystical author 71-year-old Marianne Williamson has the biggest name recognition, having run in 2020 and surprising some in early debates during that contest, before endorsing Bernie Sanders who finished second to Biden.
Her current campaign has been mired in financial difficulties, with a Politico report last summer indicating she had unpaid debts, while former staffers from her 2020 campaign called working for her toxic and terrifying.
Minnesota representative Dean Phillips who has also gotten some media attention isn’t on the Nevada ballot, prioritizing early contests in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Michigan instead. He recently made news signing on as a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act.
The Nevada State Democratic Party wasn’t too happy about his absence on the ballot in the Silver State saying it was a “slap in the face to every Nevada voter.”
The lightly talked about progressive Turkish-born naturalized citizen Cenk Uygur is also missing from the Nevada ballot, after he crossed the words natural born before citizen on his Nevada application.
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution explicitly states that "no person except a natural born citizen" can be president, so not sure which state ballot if any he’ll end up on.
Others who did make the Nevada ballot include the Las Vegas-based Gabriel Cornejo who has 387 followers on Instagram for 355 posts, while following 470, which doesn’t seem like a promising social media presence.
In one of his videos, he touts the upcoming January 18th debate of Democratic candidates in Los Angeles being hosted by the non-partisan group Free&Equal Elections. Cornejo previously took part in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics Lesser-Known Candidates forum which can be seen on C-Span. He described himself as an entrepreneur who has lived in two countries and 11 cities. “The state of our health care is atrocious,” he said, and came across as one of the most polished on that stage.
It wasn’t too high of a bar as others taking part in that debate included Vermin Supreme who wore a boot on his head and Paperboy Love Prince, but neither made the Nevada ballot either.
Other candidates who did make the Nevada ballot include office seekers who have lost by whopping margins in minor elections, a plumber, a venture capitalist, a software engineer and a filmmaker.
Too bad that given the circumstances of Biden being an octogenarian, candidates with a chance didn’t break protocol to run against him.
The Democratic Party has no Plan B if Biden were to halt his re-election campaign for whatever reason and there was a need to replace him as the potential nominee.
If anything were to happen, party rules would still allow Democrats to pick another nominee at their convention in August or even later, even someone not listed on primary ballots, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom, seen by many pundits as waiting in the wings if the opportunity arises.
Back in the day of our two party dominated political system, convention delegates did not just rubber-stamp but actively chose their nominee, and Democratic party rules still allow this.
If Biden were to drop out after the convention, there would probably be a special session to select a nominee.