Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may be excluded from the Maine primary ballot as he failed to obtain the required 2,000 signatures from Maine voters to qualify for the state’s Republican presidential primary. A letter from Maine’s Director of Elections Heidi M. Peckham stated that Christie’s campaign only submitted “844 names certified by municipal registrars.” The campaign has five days to appeal the decision in Maine Superior Court. According to a spokesperson for Christie’s campaign, the campaign collected and submitted over 6,000 signatures, and this issue is being appealed due to the way signatures were reviewed.
The Republican candidates who have qualified for the primary ballot include former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and pastor Ryan Binkley.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and President Biden will appear on their party’s primary ballot. The primary contests are scheduled for March 5, 2024, also known as Super Tuesday, which is expected to have the most state primaries or caucuses on a single day during the election season.
Maine’s Secretary of State’s office has revealed that this will be Maine’s first presidential primary election conducted under the new semi-open primary law, allowing unenrolled voters to participate in any party’s primary. These unenrolled voters constitute a significant portion of Maine’s total registered voters. Additionally, similar to Maine, New Hampshire also has a large independent voting bloc.
Christie has centered his campaign on trying to win in the Granite State, appealing to independents in the first-in-the-nation primary state, and has made the case that performing well in New Hampshire is his path to the nomination. His strategy has been about appealing to independents in states where they can participate in the primaries. However, the setback in Maine may complicate this strategy.
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