The ‘Campaign Season’ has gotten longer and more expensive every four year period. It would be quite radical if some candidates refused to get caught up in the swirl until very late.
Such a candidate would need to already have several financial backers, so they wouldn’t need to worry about that.
They may be self-funded. I don’t think other first world countries stretch the presidential run across a two, even three year period like we do.
The first two debates are scheduled for June 26/27 and July 30/31. The large field has been divided into two groups hence the need for two days for each debate. There will be debates in Sept, Oct, Nov, and December 2019.
The primary schedule is as follows:
The following primary and caucus dates are based on state statutes or state party decisions, but are subject to change pending legislation, state party delegate selection plans, or the decisions of state secretaries of state:
February 3: Iowa caucus
February 11: New Hampshire primary
February 22: Nevada caucus
February 29: South Carolina primary
March 3: Super Tuesday (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia primaries); Democrats Abroad global primary features a voting period from March 3-10.
March 7: Louisiana primary
March 10: Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Washington primaries; North Dakota firehouse caucus (identical to a party-run primary)
March 17: Arizona, Florida, and Illinois primaries
April 4: Alaska and Hawaii primaries
April 7: Wisconsin primary
April 28: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island primaries
May 2: Kansas primary
May 5: Indiana primary
May 12: West Virginia and Nebraska primaries
May 19: Kentucky and Oregon primaries
June 2: Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota primaries
June 7: Puerto Rico primary (NB: The governor plans to propose a bill moving it to March 8)
June 16: District of Columbia primary (NB: A bill proposing a move to June 2 has been tabled)
As of May 2019, primaries and caucuses for the following states and territories are not yet scheduled:
Georgia primary (previously held on March 1, 2016): The Georgia Election Code empowers the Secretary of State to set the date for the primary on any date before the second tuesday in June. The Democratic state party expects the primary to be scheduled for March 3, 2020.
American Samoa caucus (previously held on March 1, 2016)
Maine caucus/primary: Previous legislation setting the date has expired.] Two competing bills have been tabled to replace the caucus with a primary on either March 3 (Super Tuesday), or any date in March (chosen by the secretary of state).] In the absence of new legislation, the state party anticipates holding a caucus on March 8, 2020. The Super Tuesday primary bill was voted against by minority Republicans due to budget concerns, but passed the recommendation stage at the Maine legislature’s voting committee, and now awaits the outcome of the final votes soon to be cast by both chambers of the Maine Legislature.
Northern Marianas caucus (previously held on March 12, 2016)[244]
Wyoming caucus/primary (previously held on April 9, 2016): The state party initially via its draft plan proposed a party-run caucus for March 2020, then shortly considered moving it to April 18, but now currently consider whether to replace it with a party-run primary (as a government-run primary is not an option in the state). The final decision setting the format and date will be communicated via an updated plan in the summer of 2019.
New York primary (previously held on April 19, 2016): The primary is currently scheduled for a default February 4 date only for procedural reasons, as the official date is not yet determined. The Democratic draft delegate selection plan has proposed April 28 as the actual date for the primary. Leaders of the state legislature reportedly support the new April 28 proposal, but have yet to pass it.
Guam caucus (previously held on May 7, 2016)
Virgin Islands caucus (previously held on June 4, 2016)
They knew Hillary was a train wreck but didn’t have a clear path to swap her out. They won’t make that mistake again.