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 woman to enter the race and is the first and currently only candidate from Cuba. On June 4, Representative Kelly Parker of Hispaniola announced her candidacy, becoming the second woman and openly progressive candidate to enter into the race.
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 down ballot 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 entice 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, publicly 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 competitive 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.
Debates
The Civic Democratic National Committee organized a series of debates for the 2024 primaries. The first of these was held on August 23, 2023, in New Charleston, involving the major candidates and was hosted by CBS News anchors Charlotte Whitmer Lang and Garry Leckner. The major topics of the debate included: Economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, rising tensions with the United Commonwealth, and social issues such as the legality of same-sex marriage and abortion. The CDNC and CBS News were criticized by many on social media for including every declared major candidate regardless of polling status, which many believed stripped more important and high-polling candidates of adequate debate time.
A second debate was held on October 3, 2023, and was hosted jointly by HNN News and the Caribbean Central News Agency and held in Montgomery. Per HNN and CCNA guidelines Sarah Wilson, Mike Connelly and Kelly Parker were excluded from the debate as they had not reached at least 8% in the most recent national polls. The major topics of the debate included: economic issues such as government spending and welfare, social issues, and foreign policy, particularly the candidates' position on the Conference of American States and its handling of the 2021–23 Caribbean diplomatic crisis . Most notably, each candidate was asked their position on Antillean independence near the end of the debate. Allen Paul declared his support for Antillean independence, Alexander Wilder and Wyatt Tindall declared their opposition, and Esteban Morello declined to state a position.
A third debate was held on December 4, 2023, and was hosted jointly by CBS News and the New Charleston Observer and held in Davis. Paul, Wilder, and Tindall were invited to the debate, while Morello, Wilson, Connelly, and Parker were not, in accordance with a new 10% polling rule. Hispanic Civic Democrats condemned the debate organizers from excluding Morello, who although polled low amongst other candidates nationally, has polled exceptionally high amongst Hispanic Civic Democrats. The major topics of the debate included: racial inequality in the Antilles, rising economic inequality, constitutional reforms, and environmental concerns. At the end of the debate, Paul accused Wilder and Tindall of being "one in the same", and in a social media post shortly following the debate Paul provided supposed evidence of collaboration between the two campaigns. Both candidates denied the assertion.
A fourth debate is scheduled to take place on February 1, 2023 and will be hosted jointly by the BGP News and Columbia News Channel. No rules regarding candidate specifications to participate in the debate have been released. The Wilson, Connelly, and Parker campaigns have threatened to organize their own debate if they are excluded from the fourth debate.
Primary calendar
The primary calendar was announced by Civic Democratic National Committee in May 2023.
| Date | Total
pledged delegates |
Primaries/caucuses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2, 2024 | Cuba primary | ||
| June 4, 2024 (Super Tuesday) |
Hispaniola primary | ||
| June 10, 2024 | 50 |
Puerto Rico primary Virgin Islands primary | |
| June 14, 2024 | Abroad primary | ||
Candidates
Declared candidates
The candidates of this section have formally announced their candidacy, have received substantial media coverage, hold or have held significant public office, and have been included in at least five national polls.
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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 Tindall)
- 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)
- 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 (endorsed Morello)
- Marcus Porter, Mayor of Whiteport (2020–present), candidate for Lieutenant governor of Hispaniola in 2019 (endorsed Paul)
Vice presidential speculation
Various media outlets speculated on who would potentially be the Civic Democratic vice presidential nominee for the 2024 election since 2022. According to Antillean political observers, a unity ticket between the moderate and progressive wings of the party, as since in the 2020 presidential election, is most likely to occur again. Beginning in December of 2023, there have been rumors that both Allen Paul and Alexander Wilder, the two leading candidates in the primary, may select a running mate before the national convention.