On September 4, Michigan’s Governor signed SB 624, which moves the Michigan presidential primary to January 15. The Republican Party of Michigan says it will use this primary, even though national party rules will penalize the state party by refusing to seat half its delegates to the national convention.

It is still not clear what the Michigan Democratic Party will do. The party will lose all its delegates if it chooses them in the primary. The party is free to ignore the primary and use caucuses in February, if it wishes to avoid any loss of delegates. It is true that on August 31, the Michigan Democratic Party resolved to use its primary, but the party might change its mind.