California Presidential Primary Will Be Feb. 5

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 113, which moves California's presidential primary up to February 5.

Unlike a number of my GOP comrades, I'm generally supportive of moving the presidential primary to an early spot on the primary calendar (although I think there is great merit in my friend Jon Fleischman's critique of the Governor's methodology on this matter). I like the idea of forcing GOP presidential contenders to come here and campaign for the support of GOP activists and voters -- not just donors.

Furthermore, I think that kind of competition and attention is healthy for the state and county Republican parties and conducive to their growth and registration efforts.

I also support the shift from winner-take-all. As one of my confederates at Red County/San Diego put it:

No winner takes all. Instead, every Congressional District is in play, with each being worth the same as the next, and with additional delegates awarded to the candidate who gets the most GOP votes statewide. This means Republican candidates will actually wage campaigns in the heart of the Bay Area and Los Angeles, for the first time in years.

I believe that's a positive development, as well. There are few more effective methods of getting voters thinking about the Republican Party than for Republican candidates to compete vigorously for their attention and loyalty. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was in Orange County today, and former Gov. Mitt Romney will be here tomorrow. Arizona Sen. John McCain was here last week.

Given the near complete absence of any compelling statewide Republican figure, we could certainly stand to have Messrs. Giuliani, Romney, McCain, Huckabee, Brownback, et al alighting in our state and attempting to sway us to their standard.

Comments

[Johnny Slash]

Prepare for a wave of school bonds on the ballot.

As a "regular election," February 5 will qualify for the 55% threshold.

[flowerszzz]

Can I ask a dumb question? How come they are just moving the presidential stuff to Feb? I mean I get the whole term limits issue on the ballot ruse. BUT after this presidential primary, will all things that should be in the primary be moved to Feb of presidential years or are we going to have 2 elections each presidential years, one being for president nominations in Feb and the other for legislature, both Fed & State for June?

[Morning Coffee]

That's not a dumb question. I've been wondering about that all day too,and several people I've talked with today are also wondering about it.

[Re: flowerszzz and Morning Coffee]

To answer your question, only the presidential primary is moved to February. Other legislative and congressional primaries remain in June.

Yes, you are correct. Everyone voter in California will have to vote at LEAST 3 times next year.

[flowerszzz]

So as a taxpayer - I am now paying for 2 primaries???? What a waste of MY money! Why not move all issues for the primaries to the Feb Ballot? (Besides the obvious one that they want the term limit extensions to pass so they can again run in June)Is there anything in the leg that passed doing that after this year?

[calwatch]

Ultimately, the front loading of primaries is pretty lame. Either we all have a national primary/caucus on one day in the year like we have a national election, or we give Iowa and New Hampshire their place in the sun and hold off on other elections for two months to allow the candidates a chance to recover and regroup. The super duper February primary increases the odds of a poor candidate just rolling in on momentum alone, or conversely if there are only two viable candidates left, increases the likelihood of a brokered convention as the two fight for the scraps of delegates left by the minor candidates.

[This is like contribution limits]

We know that contribution limits help wealthy candidates by making it harder for anyone else to raise money.

Well, campaigning in California is so expensive that only early front runners or wealthy candidates will be able to compete in California.

The older system gave lower profile candidates the chance to compete in smaller states, appeal to voters, and attact the attention of donors who normally wouldn't have given them a second thought.

[Chuck DeVore]

Regarding the questions as to why the regular legislative June primary was not simply moved to February to save $90 to $100 million, there is a simple answer: politicians.

You see, there will be a term limit change initiative on the ballot in February. If voters approve it, it will allow the Speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Núñez, to serve an extra 6 years in the Assembly while the President pro tem of the Senate, Don Perata, will be able to serve an extra 4 years. How? If passed by the voters, termed-out politicians will have just enough time to file for reelection in the June primary. They could not have done this if there was not an early and extra primary election in February.

All the best,

Chuck DeVore
State Assemblyman, 70th District
www.ChuckDeVore.com

[flowerszzz]

Chuck - I understand all that term limit stuff. What I am asking is this:

Will all presidential primaries from here on out be in Feb, and then we will have the other primaries in june - forever and ever or will they combine the 2 election - in presidential years, to save ME, the Taxpayer $$?