Candidates set for 2016 Michigan presidential primary

Fourteen Republicans and three Democrats will appear on the March 8 presidential primary ballot.

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson released the list Thursday based on candidates who are “generally advocated by the national news media to be potential presidential candidates."

All 17 names will stay on the ballot unless the candidates send the Secretary of State a letter by 4 p.m. Dec. 11 stating that they’re no longer a candidate, said SOS spokesman Fred Woodhams.

Republicans on the ballot: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, California businesswoman Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New York Gov. George Pataki, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and New York businessman Donald Trump.

Democrats on the ballot will be: former first lady, U.S. Secretary of State and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Left off the ballot was Republican Jim Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia who has run a largely invisible campaign.

The leaders of the Michigan Republican and Democratic parties have until Nov. 17 to add the names of other candidates to the list for their party. And other potential candidates not on the SOS list or submitted by the state parties can gather enough signatures — 10,577 for Republicans and 12,823 for Democrats, which is calculated based on the number of votes in the last presidential election — to qualify for the March 8 ballot.

Michigan's presidential primary will come a month after the presidential primary season begins with Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 1, followed by New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Voters in 12 more states will cast ballots on Super Tuesday, March 1 and four more states will vote on March 5.

Joining Michigan in casting ballots on March 8 are Republicans in Hawaii and Idaho and the state of Mississippi.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.