SIR Jeffrey Donaldson and former first minister Paul Givan are today expected to be confirmed as the DUP's candidates in Lagan Valley.
The pair's selection by the party's constituency association on Thursday night will be ratified by the DUP's ruling executive when it meets today at the La Mon hotel near Belfast.
The party's ruling body is expected to confirm 30 candidates in all, including Edwin Poots in South Belfast and Diane Forsythe in South Down.
The executive meeting comes after both the DUP's sitting North Belfast MLAs confirmed they will not contest May 5's election.
William Humphrey is reportedly stepping down for "personal reasons", while the party's deputy leader Paula Bradley is leaving frontline politics to look after her elderly mother.
Ms Bradley, who was first elected to the assembly alongside Mr Humphrey in 2011, will remain as Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's deputy until at least the party's annual general meeting in June.
It is understood that she does not intend to quit politics altogether and will remain a member of the DUP.
In an interview with the BBC, she said: "My mum needs me more and I have decided to prioritise her over my political career.
"She sacrificed so much for me and I feel I need to be there for her."
Belfast councillor and former mayor Brian Kingston is earmarked as the party's North Belfast candidate, alongside Antrim & Newtownabbey councillor Phillip Brett.
The DUP's decision to run just two candidates in Lagan Valley has surprised many observers.
DUP councillor Paul Rankin was co-opted to become the party’s new MLA in the constituency earlier this week.
Little over a month ago, former leader Edwin Poots was adamant that the party would be fielding three candidates, having come within 433 votes of securing a third MLA in the constituency in 2017.
“We were 400 votes off winning three seats the last time, and had it not been for Mike Nesbitt’s call out for Ulster Unionists to vote for the SDLP we almost certainly would have the last seat the last time, so we’ll see how that goes,” Mr Poots told the BBC.
“But politics is an up and down business – it’s a risky business in many respects."
Chris Donnelly, commentator and columnist with The Irish News, said the decision to run only two candidates in Lagan Valley was a "very public admission by the party leadership that they believe they are going to take a significant hit and are in damage limitation mode".
"Shifting Edwin Poots to South Belfast might have succeeded in resolving one problem but it won’t help the party – nor unionism – attract new votes in a constituency where unionism would’ve hoped to potentially pick up an extra seat."
Mr Donnelly said Paula Bradley’s decision not to stand in the election, albeit for personal reasons, created "another potential headache for the DUP leader".
"Bradley is the closest thing the DUP has to a middle-ground friendly representative, and her loss further diminishes the party’s transfer appeal to that growing band of middle ground voters destined to determine key seats," he said.
