Florida Leads States with Earliest Primary

by: Stephanie Golubski

In an effort to gain more a stronghold in the ever-increasing field of Presidential candidates, Governor Charlie Crist signed a bill moving Florida’s 2008 primary to January 28, trailing the New Hampshire primary by a mere 6 days. Unfortunately for Florida, National Democratic Officials have decided to enforce party rules that state they have the right to strip the state of candidates if the state moves too early in the campaign or bar the delegates who campaign too early. This could mean Florida, state rich with voters, would only be able to vote for presidential hopefuls the party sent to that partucular state. Voters might not get to vote for the “ Big Contenders.”By doing this, the DNC is trying to keep the already heavy list of contenders to a fair race, making sure that smaller candidates don’t get shut out of the election.

By changing the primary election date, Presidential candidates will now be forced to address issues not relevant in traditionally higher campaigned states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, issues on the forefront of regional voters' minds, such as illegal immigration and environmental issues, that might not be as prevalent in other states. However, in speeding up the primary process, the campaign trail, which usually lasts for a few months, will be shortened to a few weeks and candidates typically known as underdogs won't be able to compete with more well-funded candidates, especially in a state where commercial airtime can cost over $2 million dollars a week.

However, other states are following this lead, piggy-backing state over state, trying to get that earlier primary date. Statewide primaries in California will still be held in June, and opponents to the bill argue dual elections could end up costing taxpayers money. Republican Senate members, who abstained from voting, complained the bill did not state specific language about the requirement for the state to reimburse counties for the cost of the extra election. "Counties should not be left holding the bag or wondering when they will be reimbursed," said Assemblyman Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia.) Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) promised that counties would be paid back once the true cost of the election is known and after the Special Election of 2005 called by Governor Schwarzenegger the state reimbursed counties $38.8 million.