South Carolina Republican Party cancels 2020 presidential primary

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- With some other states mulling the idea, South Carolina's Republican Party on Saturday officially canceled the state's 2020 Republican presidential primary.

The S.C. Republican Party announced that its State Executive Committee voted to cancel the 2020 GOP Presidential Preference Primary. Three other states are finalizing plans to cancel primaries.caucuses.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick said in a statement the move would save taxpayers more than $1 million.

"With no legitimate primary challenger and President [Donald] Trump's record of results, the decision was made to save South Carolina taxpayers over $1.2 million and forgo unnecessary primary," McKissick stated. "President Trump and his administration have delivered for South Carolinians, and we look forward to ensuring that Republican candidates up and down the ballot are elected in 2020."

The statement also noted that primaries had been canceled before when Republican incumbent presidents were in the White House -- in 1984 with President Ronald Reagan and 2004 with George W. Bush. The Democratic Party canceled its primaries in 1996 and 2012 when Democratic incumbent Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ran for re-election.

Primary challengers of Trump spoke out against the decision.

Former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh said it was "undemocratic."

"It's undemocratic. It's what a mob boss would do and that's how Trump's behaving right now," Walsh told ABC News.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, another challenger, said the president "wished to be crowned," instead of "elected."

Politico reported that the Republican Party in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas planned to cancel primaries and caucuses.

Kansas Republican Party Executive Director Shannon Golden said Friday it would not organize a caucus because Trump is an incumbent.

"Every time an incumbent Republican has run for re-election, except in 1912 (when they went for Roosevelt instead of Taft), the Kansas Republican Party state convention adopted a resolution instructing all delegates to vote for the elected incumbent," Golden said.

Kansas GOP Chairman Michael Kuckelman added that canceling the caucus would save $250,000.

Nevada GOP officials are expected to take up a similar vote Saturday and Arizona is expected to make a decision later this month.