Florida Sticking to January 31 Primary Date

According to national Republican National Committee rules, the only states that are allowed to schedule their primary election dates before March 6 are Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. Florida representatives have violated the RNC rules by scheduling Florida’s primaries on January 31. Upon the Sunshine State’s decision to officially confirm the January 31 primaries, the four states that traditionally reserve the right to vote first are scrambling to set their dates ahead of Florida. The four states will most likely submit their primaries dates on Saturday, meeting the RNC’s deadline. The New Hampshire Secretary of State affirmed that the date may be pushed back as far as December, 2011. Although the “first four” states will be able to change their primary dates before Florida and the Presidential Nomination Calendar will be adjusted accordingly, potential candidates Sarah Palin ad Chris Christie will be afforded even less time to campaign and win their voting demographics favor (Peter Hamby).

CNN reporter Peter Hamby states, “Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn released a harshly worded statement, “The consequences of Florida's intransigence must be swift and severe, including the refusal by the RNC to credential or seat any member of Florida's presidential primary date commission at the 2012 RNC convention in Tampa” (Hamby). The traditional punitive action taken by the RNC in regards to “rogue” states that push their primaries date before March 6 is to deny that state half of their delegates to the RNC Convention. Coincidentally, the 2012 Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa, Florida. Various other penalties may likely fall unto Florida’s convention delegates, such as seating them in the least appealing section of the convention and providing them with inconvenient and distant hotel accommodations in the Tampa area.

Florida is viewed as a crucial “swing state” in the 2012 elections. Speaker of the State House Dean Cannon stated, as reported by Peter Hamby, “the move was made to protect the right of Florida primary voters in determining the next Republican nominee, and to emphasize the significance of Florida” (Serafin Gomez).

In an attempt to alleviate the tension among Republican Party members, RNC Press Secretary Kirsten Kukowski stated, "While the primaries will now start earlier than planned, the overarching goal of the current rules was to allow more states and voters to have a role in choosing the next Republican nominee for President. This goal will be met” (Peter Hamby).

Sources: Peter Hambly. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/30/florida-holds-fast-to-january-31-primary-date/?iref=allsearch

Serafin Gomez. http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/09/30/florida-officially-sets-janurary-31st-primary