AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Idaho's state primary and Democratic presidential caucus

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Idaho voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide primaries for the U.S. House and the state legislature, one contest will be noticeably absent from the ballot: the race for the White House. That’s because state lawmakers scrapped the presidential primary last year, prompting Idaho Democrats to hold presidential caucuses on May 23 instead.

President Joe Biden faces only nominal opposition in the caucuses with less than three weeks remaining in the presidential primary calendar. He unofficially clinched the nomination in March and has spent the subsequent months focusing on his general election rematch with the Republican presumptive nominee, former President Donald Trump.

The May 23 caucuses will function more like a party-run primary with printed ballots and set polling hours, as opposed to the old Iowa-style caucuses in which caucus-goers indicate their candidate preference by moving around the room and forming groups.

Idaho lawmakers originally planned to save money by consolidating the March 12 presidential primary with Tuesday’s state primary for state and local offices. But after passing legislation last year canceling the presidential primary, the lawmakers failed to take the additional step of moving the event to the May date, in effect canceling it entirely. Idaho Republicans held their caucuses on March 2, and Trump won easily.