Trump only name on GOP primary ballot in Georgia; 18 Democrats listed

Exactly one name will be on the Republican presidential primary ballot March 24: that of incumbent Donald Trump.

Georgia Democrats also announced their ballot for the primary, which will feature 18 candidates.

The move by the Georgia GOP is in line with Republican organizations in several other states that have barred all candidates other than Trump.

Georgia GOP officials announced Monday that the party’s executive committee had considered requests from Trump and four other candidates — President R19 Boddie, Rocky Da Le Fuente, former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld — before unanimously deciding to omit all but the president.

Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer said in a statement that Trump was the only candidate “with any significant level of support among

Republican voters in Georgia who ‘unambiguously’ pledged to support the Republican nominee for president.”

(That’s a pledge Trump himself famously didn’t make in 2016.)

Walsh accused the Georgia GOP of “calcifying around a cancerous criminal.”

“Rather than uphold our values and embrace healthy political debate and discourse, the Georgia Republican

Party bosses have chosen to disenfranchise their own voters simply to protect a man who is unfit for office,” Walsh said.

And Weld blasted the party’s decision in a Tweet late Monday:

“Apparently @realDonaldTrump’s bromance with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin extends to emulating the Russian’s approach to elections,” Weld wrote. “The #GAGOP just decided the Georgia Republican Presidential Primary ballot will have only one candidate on it: Donald Trump. What is D JT afraid of ?”

The Democratic ballot includes the two newest candidates to join the race — former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and ex-U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, a former Navy admiral, also made the list even though they all dropped out of the race this week.