Regional Primaries… Will Congress Act?

The House and the Senate each have a bill pending on Regional Primaries.  In the Senate, SB 1905 was introduced in July 2007, and in the House, the matching bill HR 3487 was introduced in September.  The bills are identical, and each have been referred to rules and administration committees in their respective houses.  In the Senate, the Rules and Administration Committee held a hearing in September 2007, but the bill hasn’t received a committee vote as far as I know.

 There are links on the right to read the text of these bills and to track their progress.

 Basically, the bills would create a 4 region primary system, with one region holding primaries per month from March to June.  Under the bill, the system would begin in 2012, with a lottery to be held in 2010 to determine the 2012 regional sequence.  In 2016, the sequence would rotate, and so on in 2020. 

 In general, I think it’s a good plan, and it’s essentially what I was hoping for when I started this blog.  (It’s amazing what you find that’s already being done when you start asking questions. )  My only beefs are these:

Beef #1. Iowa and New Hampshire still get to go first.  Ugh! I hate that this compromise is written into the bill, but maybe it’s necessary to get the process started.  And you know what?  If this process gets in place, and there are a few years of rotating regional primaries, the ridiculousness of having Iowa and New Hampshire ALWAYS going first will be glaringly obvious.  Future reformers will have an easier time fixing that.  So fine, let Iowa and New Hampshire have their way.   Just get the bill done.

But, if they can get the bill out of committee without the concession to IA and NH, all the better.

Beef #2. This is less of a beef than #1, but I’d like to see the sequence rotate every 2 elections.  There is a rhythm to election cycles, and an incumbent running reduces the influence of the voters in that party’s primary.  Therefore, if your state goes first in 2012, and the incumbent in your party has a dead lock on the re-nomination, then you have essentially “wasted” your turn as the first group of states.   

Solution? Modify the bill in committee to change the rotation to every 8 years instead of 4.  But if 4 year rotation is the only option to get this bill through Congress, then by all means rotate every election.  It’s better than the current system.

What can you do?

Call your Senator and House Rep and urge them to support SB 1905 or HR 3487.  Get the bills voted on in committee and get them to the floor for a full vote!

Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121 for both the House and Senate

Find your Senator’s Direct Line – http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm