2024 Civic Democratic Party presidential primaries
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 2024 Antillean presidential election | |
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Presidential primaries and caucuses are being organized by the Civic Democratic Party to select delegates to the 2024 Civic Democratic National Convention who will select the party's nominee for the president for the 2024 Antillean presidential election. The election will take place across all four provisional commonwealths and Civic Democrats Abroad, taking place between June 2 and June 30 of that year.
Speculation for the party's nominee in 2024 has been ongoing since early 2022 with William Abernathy, one of the party's co-founders, the House Minority Leader, and the party's nominee in 2020, was originally leading in the polls as one of the top contenders, however Abernathy had not given any clear statement as to whether or not he would run in 2024. On 22 January 2023, Abernathy declared that he wouldn't run in 2024, believing that he would serve better continuing as the Minority Leader in the House of Representatitives. While no other reason was stated, many speculated that other potential factors included the party's underwhelming showing at the 2022 midterm elections and the growing influence of the party's progressive wing, one that is in disagreement and minor conflict with the party's moderate wing (one that Abernathy is a part of). Both before and after Abernathy's announcement, many political analysts predicted that the race would be deeply competitive due to the ideological conflict between moderate and progressive Civic Democrats with the latter being credited for better electoral performances such as the Civic Democrat gains in the 2022 Cuba elections and have been credited for retaining a consistent growth in support for the party.
Allen Paul became the first candidate to formally enter the race, announcing his candidacy on 10 February 2023 at a rally in his home city of Montgomery where he laid out his progressive platform and vision for the Antilles. His campaign announcement was also livestreamed through VidStream and Bubbler, attracting over a million viewers.
On February 13, 2023, three days following Paul, Alexander Wilder, vice chair of the Civic Democratic National Committee, announced his campaign on social media and held a official launch event a day later in Whiteport. Wilder had been teasing a presidential campaign since the midterm elections and is viewed as a leading moderate figure.
On February 20, 2023, Wyatt Tindall, county executive of Davis Parish, announced his candidacy through an interview on CBS News and held an official launch event on March 1.
On March 2, 2023, former senator-in-absentia Mike Connelly, who also was the Liberal presidential nominee in 2016, declared his candidacy at a rally in Columbia City.
On April 30, 2023, U.C. representative Sarah Wilson announced her candidacy at a rally in New Charleston. She is the first and currently only woman to enter the race and is the first and currently only candidate from Cuba.
Timeline
William Abernathy came in second place in the 2020 Antillean presidential election, winning 42% of the popular vote and won 91 votes from the Electoral Congregation and despite losing to Federalist nominee Arian Lawrence, Abernathy won the largest raw number and percentage of votes of any non-Federalist presidential candidate and oversaw an increase in support for the Civic Democratic Party despite underperforming on the downballot congressional elections. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Abernathy was speculated to be the party's potential nominee in 2024 with Abernathy not ruling out a potential candidacy in January 2022. While Abernathy was speculated to be a potential candidate and was the frontrunner in the polls, progressive members of the Civic Democrats encouraged him to not run, arguing that his moderate policies wouldn't intice voters and that the party needed to run in a more progressive direction to challenge the conservative nationalism of the Federalist Party under Lawrence. Said calls grew in August 2022 when Allen Paul, the mayor of Montgomery, publically expressed interest in running for president again and has remained popular among the party's progressive members and the wider progressive movement. Abernathy would remain silent about whether or not he would run for president again in 2024 for the rest of 2022 with analysts predicting that he would make a formal announcement sometime in early 2023 after indications from Abernathy himself.
On 22 January 2023, William Abernathy announced that he would not run in 2024 and would instead focus on continuing to serve as House Minority Leader instead. Abernathy's announcement was met with a mixed array of reactions ranging from surprise to support from progressives fearing that his more moderate political positions wouldn't energize voters while others were concerned that without Abernathy, it's unlikely that any other candidate will be able to bridge the gap between the two competing ideological factions. This move left the primaries open to an intensive competative election with political analysts predicting a large number of candidates will enter into the race and that the conflict between moderate and progressive Civic Democrats will take center stage as both wings vye for both the nomination and control over the party at-large.
Primary calendar
| Date | Total
pledged delegates |
Primaries/caucuses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 5, 2024 | Cuba primary | ||
| March 9, 2024 | Hispaniola primary | ||
| March 14, 2024 | 50 |
Puerto Rico primary Virgin Islands primary | |
| March 19, 2024 | Abroad primary | ||
Candidates
Declared candidates
The candidates of this section have formally announced their candidacy, have recieved substantial media coverage, hold or have held significant public office, and/or have been included in at least five national polls.
| Name | Born | Experience | Home state | Campaign Announcement date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpeg) Allen Paul |
July 23, 1969 (age 55) Montgomery, Hispaniola |
Mayor of Montgomery, Hispaniola (2019–present) Member of the Montgomery City Council for the 2nd Ward (2013–2019) |
 Hispaniola |
 Campaign Announced February 10, 2023 |
.jpeg) Alexander Wilder |
August 19, 1960 (age 64) Whiteport, Hispaniola |
Vice Chair of the Civic Democratic National Committee (2021–present) Mayor of Whiteport, Hispaniola (2013–2021) Member of the Whiteport Board of Supervisors (2005–2013) |
Hispaniola |
 Campaign Announced February 13, 2023 |
 Wyatt Tindall |
September 23, 1961 (age 62) Saint Louis, Hispaniola |
Executive of Davis Parish (2019–present) Member of the Hispaniola Provisional Assembly (2009–2019) |
Hispaniola |
 Campaign Announced February 20, 2023 |
 Mike Connelly |
April 18, 1960 ( age 64) Montgomery, Hispaniola |
Senator-in-Absentia for Maryland (2005–2015) | Hispaniola |
 Campaign Announced March 2, 2023 |
 Sarah Wilson |
September 19, 1962 ( age 61) New Charleston, Cuba |
U.C. Representative for Cuba's 10th district (2017–present) |  Cuba |
 Campaign Announced April 30, 2023 |
 Esteban Morello |
August 16, 1964 (age 60) Trinidad, Cuba |
Governor of Cuba (2021–present) U.C. Representative for Cuba's 21st district (2003–2021) |
Cuba |
Campaign Announced May 31, 2023 |
Announcement pending
- Kelly Parker, Member of the Harrison Parish Council (2013–2017) and House Representative for HA-87 (2017–present). (announcement expected on June 4, 2023)
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Publicly expressed interest
As of January 2023, the following notable individuals have expressed interest in running for president in the past six months.
- Luciana Cortez, Member of the House of Representatives for Cuba's 3rd congressional district (2017–present)
- Frank Hunt, Mayor of Harrison Roads (2020–present), Member of the House of Representatives for Hispaniola's 33rd congressional district (1999–2020)
- Alejandro Blanco, Governor of Puerto Rico (2017–present), Lieutenant Governor of Puerto Rico (2009–2017), Member of the Puerto Rico Provisional Assembly for the 4th district (2001-2009) (2009–2013)
- Devonte Hall, Parish Executive of Butler Parish (2021–present), Member of the House of Representatives for Hispaniola's 34th congressional district (2015–2021), Member of the Butler Board of Supervisors (2013–2015)
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Potential candidates
As of January 2023, the following notable individuals have been subjects to speculation about a potential candidacy within the past six months.
- Reginald Abrams, Member of the House of Representatives for Hispaniola's 22nd congressional district (2015–present), Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Conference (2021–present), Ranking Member of the House Education Committee
- Stephanie Delgado, Member of the House of Representatives for Puerto Rico's 2nd congressional district (2019–present), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Coalition (2021–present)
- Harry Ferguson, Parish Executive of New Charleston Parish (2021–present), Member of the New Charleston Parish Council (2015–2021), Member of the New Charleston City Council (2005–2015)
- Enrique Esposito, Member of the Cuba Provisional Assembly (2001–2005), Reform candidate for president in 2004
- Marcus Porter, Mayor of Whiteport (2020–present), candidate for Lieutenant governor of Hispaniola in 2019.
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Decline to be candidates
The following notable individuals have been subject to speculation of a potential candidate, but have denied interest in running.
- William Abernathy, House Minority Leader (2017–present), House Representative from HA-13 (2009–present), and Civic Democrat nominee for president in 2020.
- Franklin Perry, Senate Minority Leader (2019–present), U.C. Senator-in-Absentia from Illinois (2010–present).
- Debbie Adams, Governor of the Virgin Islands (2017–present), Parish Executive of Charlotte Parish (2017–present), U.C. Senator from the Virgin Islands (2013–2017) (endorsed Paul)
- Martha Bennett, Chair of the Congressional Black Conference (2021–present) and member of the House of Representatives (1995–present) (endorsed Paul)
- David Adams, U.C. Senator from the Virgin Islands (2011–present); House Representative from VI-AL (1995–2011) (endorsed Paul)
- Leon Anderson, Deputy Secretary of the Army (2016–2018) and Vice Chief of Army Staff (2012–2016). (endorsed Tyndall)
Vice presidential speculation
Various media outlets speculated on who would potentially be the Civic Democratic vice presidential nominee for the 2024 election since 2022. Before dropping out, many outlets speculated if Abernathy would select Allen Paul as his running mate again or another candidate instead, possibly a progressive candidate in order to run a unity ticket between the moderate and progressive wings of the party. After Abernathy declined running for president again, it is unknown who the Civic Democratic vice presidential nominee will be, however media outlets have continued to speculate dependent on who ends up winning the nomination.