A “Make America Great Again” hat | Mary Schwalm/AP Photo New York might cancel Republican presidential primary

ALBANY — New York officials will decide in the next few days whether to cancel this year’s Republican presidential primary, which would guarantee President Donald Trump wins every delegate from his former home state.

Four Republicans have submitted paperwork to appear on the ballot — Trump, Bill Weld, Rocky De La Fuente and Joe Walsh.


Republican candidates are required to submit the names of three delegates and three alternate delegates in each of the state’s 27 congressional districts, a total of 162 individuals from throughout the state. Neither De La Fuente nor Walsh submitted the names of any delegates, meaning they were booted.

Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, submitted around half of what was required. Since he had some names, he’s been given a brief amount of time to find the remaining four score or so New York Republicans who might want to represent his campaign.

“There’s a three day window; that three day window started yesterday,” state Board of Elections Republican co-chair Peter Kosinski said Friday. “That opportunity will end at the end of the day on Monday, and then on Tuesday we will make a determination on his eligibility to be a candidate for the presidential primary. That will be … determined based on what their campaign does to cure the defects of the delegate list.”

If Weld doesn’t come up with the names, Trump will automatically win the state and Democrats will be the only party holding a nominating contest on April 28: “Like all of our primaries, there’s only a primary if there’s an actual contest,” Kosinski said.

A handful of other states, including Nevada and South Carolina, have canceled their Republican primaries this year.

Weld’s campaign did not immediately return requests for comment.

While canceling the primary might improve Trump’s chances of winning the state’s delegates from all-but-guaranteed to guaranteed, it would not necessarily be advantageous for Republicans.

There will be five state and federal special elections on that day, including the contest between Republican Chris Jacobs and Democrat Nate McMurray to fill the congressional seat vacated by Chris Collins.

Jacobs — who, ironically, was Weld’s lieutenant governor pick when the former Bay Stater unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination to succeed George Pataki as New York’s governor in 2006 — is almost certainly the favorite in the deep-red district regardless of what happens in other races. But if there’s a competitive primary drawing Democrats to the polls, and not so much as a pro forma GOP contest that might excite Trump fans, there’s a decent chance the race might get a little more competitive.