AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Missouri’s GOP caucuses

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Missouri Republican Party will hold presidential caucuses on Saturday, offering voters their only chance to weigh in on who should represent the party on the November presidential ballot. The contest is one of the last chances for candidates to shape the race for the GOP nomination before Super Tuesday, when 15 states will hold Republican contests on March 5, the most of any day on the primary calendar.

Former President Donald Trump looks to extend his string of primary and caucus victories this year, while Nikki Haley, his former U.N. ambassador, seeks her first win of the campaign. Trump prevailed twice under the state’s old presidential primary system, first in 2016, when he barely edged Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and again in 2020, when he won 97% of the vote as the incumbent.

The caucuses will also start the process of awarding 51 of Missouri’s 54 Republican delegates to the Republican National Convention this summer.

The caucuses were organized after GOP Gov. Mike Parson signed a 2022 law that, among other things, canceled the planned March 12 presidential primary. Lawmakers have failed to reinstate the primary, despite calls to do so by both the state Republican and Democratic party leaders. Democrats will hold a party-run primary on March 23.

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