Clinton sole top Democrat in Michigan primary race

DETROIT (Reuters) - Front-runner Hillary Clinton will be the only top tier Democrat in the Michigan presidential primary on January 15 because her main rivals dropped out on Tuesday in a dispute over the early timing of the state's nominating contest.

Her two closest rivals in national polls, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, both withdrew their names.

So did New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state.

States have been jostling for earlier dates in a bid to maximize their influence in selecting the Democratic nominee, but Democratic National Committee officials have given only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada the go-ahead to hold closely watched early primaries and caucuses.

Michigan and Florida have moved their primary dates earlier, and the DNC has threatened to bar their delegates next summer at the convention that will nominate the Democratic candidate for the November 2008 election.

All the candidates, including Clinton, have pledged not to campaign in states that hold nominating contests early in violation of Democratic party rules.

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel also had left their names on the ballot when the 4 p.m. deadline passed, Chesney said.

Obama spokesman Jen Psaki said the decision not to appear on the ballot was "an extension of the pledge we made, based on the rules that the DNC laid out."

"We still hope that Michigan Democrats can adopt a process that meets DNC rules," she said.

Biden campaign manager Luis Navarro said in a statement, "Today's decision reaffirms our pledge to respect the primary calendar as established by the DNC and makes it clear that we will not play into the politics of money and Republican machinations that only serve to interfere with the primary calendar."

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)