Open Thread: February 5th Primary

by: Matt Glazer

Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 06:40 AM CST

Leo Berman, the Tyler Republican and Chair of the House Elections Committee, says he supports House Bills 993 and 996-- legislation to move the primary from March to February.

Where do you stand on a February 5th primary in Texas?

**UPDATE**

Ed. note

As it turns out, Rep. Berman may not be supporting Rep. Alonzo's bills (the two bills linked above) according to a story in Monday's Rio Grande Guardian. He does, however, seem to be supporting some sort of legislation that is soon to be filed, as reported in the News 8 article linked above.

This shows that the Republicans want to do something differently than what Democrats have proposed. Maybe any early primary is better. Maybe, we should exercise some caution when pushing for an early primary, to ensure we're not doing something that will actually hurt Texas Democrats. Discuss the possibilities below.

Could Texans Vote In Primaries Before Cupid?

by: John McClelland

Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 07:11 PM CST

According to the Austin American-Statesman, any change in date would have to go through Leo Berman's House Committee on Elections.

For the Texas date to change, Berman said, "it's going to have to be a total bipartisan push. It's going to take a large majority of both sides of the aisle to do something like this."

While most Legislators are not entirely sure the date should be moved up to compete with other states for clout, the Texas Democratic Party would support a move up as close as February 5. If Texas moved it's Democratic primary date, it would have more sway in how the rest of the country may vote. As it stands right now this is the schedule for the Democratic primaries by state:

  * January 14 2008 - Iowa
  * January 19 2008 - Nevada
  * January 22 2008 - New Hampshire
  * January 29 2008 - South Carolina
  * February 5 2008 - Delaware, Missouri
  * February 12 2008 - District of Columbia, Tennessee, Virginia
  * February 19 2008 - Wisconsin
  * February 26 2008 - Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey
  * March 2008 (date to be determined) - American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Virgin Islands, Wyoming
  * March 4 2008 - Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas
  * March 7 2008 - Colorado, Utah
  * March 8 2008 - Kansas
  * March 11 2008 - Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma
  * March 18 2008 - Illinois, Oregon
  * April 2008 (date to be determined) - Alaska
  * April 1 2008 - Pennsylvania
  * May 6 2008 - Indiana, North Carolina
  * May 13 2008 - Nebraska, West Virginia
  * May 20 2008 - Arkansas, Kentucky
  * May 27 2008 - Washington
  * June 3 2008 - Alabama, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, California

The impact of a change in date could also upset voters who are used to having a March primary. It could also impact the campaigns of local and state candidates. Having a shorter primary race means a much longer political campaign against incumbents who sit on their pots of gold. In that same regard, it also means less time spent battling your primary opponent and wasting your campaign money.

While we may not hold the key to who we sway the American public to vote for in the primaries, we must remember Texas is the key to any presidential winner in 2008 in the general election. Maybe we should just rest on those laurels before we ditch the leprechaun for cupid.