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MADISON, WI –Wisconsin’s Presidential Preference Selection Committee today selected 14 Democrats and one Republican who will appear as candidates on the ballot for the Presidential Preference Vote on April 7, 2020.
The committee, which has convened every four years since 1968, met in the State Capitol and approved the candidates from lists submitted by representatives of the two political parties permitted by statute to participate in the presidential primary. The Committee has the sole discretion to determine those individuals whose candidacies are generally recognized or advocated in the national news media for placement on Wisconsin’s presidential primary ballot.
These candidates will appear on their respective party ballots:
Republican
Donald J. Trump
Democratic
Michael Bennett
Joe Biden
Michael Bloomberg
Cory Booker
Pete Buttigieg
John Delaney
Tulsi Gabbard
Amy Klobuchar
Deval Patrick
Bernie Sanders
Tom Steyer
Elizabeth Warren
Marianne Williamson
Andrew Yang
Today’s meeting opens a four-week window in which candidates chosen by the Committee may opt out, or those not chosen may circulate nominating petitions to get on the ballot. To be removed from the ballot, a candidate must file a disclaimer with the Wisconsin Elections Commission by January 28. To get on the ballot, an omitted candidate must collect at least 1,000 signatures from each of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts by January 28. The candidates’ ballot order will be selected at random after the deadline.
On April 7, 2020, Wisconsin voters will have the opportunity to express their preference for a presidential candidate at the Spring Election for judicial and other local non-partisan candidates. In the Presidential Preference Primary, an elector may vote on the ballot of only one political party. The voter may choose to vote by one of the following methods:
- Vote for one of the persons whose names are printed on the ballot;
- Vote for an uninstructed delegation from Wisconsin to the national convention of the party;
- Write in the name of another person to become the presidential candidate of the party.
Independent candidates for president have a separate process for getting on the ballot for November 3, which includes gathering at least 2,000 signatures between July 1 and August 4, 2020.
The selection committee was chaired by Bob Lang, director of the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Members of the committee, as established under Wisconsin law, were:
- Andrew Hitt, Chairperson, Republican Party of Wisconsin
- Ben Wikler, Chairperson, Democratic Party of Wisconsin
- Senator Roger Roth, President of the Senate
- Senator Jennifer Shilling, Minority Leader of the Senate
- Barb Scherrer, Assembly Speaker Designee
- Representative Mark Spreitzer, Assembly Minority Leader Designee
- Andrew Werthmann, Democratic National Committeeman
- Felesia Martin, Democratic National Committeewoman
- Tom Schreibel, Republican National Committeeman
- Mary Buestrin, Republican National Committeewoman
Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief elections official, said today’s Presidential Preference Selection Committee meeting starts the state’s presidential selection process. The process will culminate in December 2020, when presidential electors from the party whose candidate receives the most votes will gather at the State Capitol to cast their votes in the Electoral College.
For more details about Wisconsin’s process for presidential candidates, please visit the WEC website: https://elections.wi.gov/node/3397.