The cost to hold a separate election in March of 2020 for the presidential primary would be at least $7 million.
The state Elections Commission estimates the total would be between $6.4 million and $6.8 million. That figure does not include any local costs.
Mark Thomsen is a Democratic appointee to the commission. He calls the proposal to benefit conservative Justice Daniel Kelly the “biggest waste of money for a single person that I can think of.”
