To increase Pennsylvania's effect on the presidential election, several state representatives have submitted legislation to hold the primary election sooner.
Reps. Harry Readshaw, D-Allegheny, and Ron Buxton, D-Dauphin, have both introduced bills to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that propose moving the primary election from the fourth Tuesday in April to two different dates.
The goal is to make Pennsylvania a player in the primary selection of presidential candidates, who are often decided by the time Pennsylvania has its primary election, Readshaw said.
Readshaw wants to indefinitely move the primary to the second Tuesday in February, and Buxton proposed a move to the first Tuesday in March for 2008.
In 2004, 26 states had primary elections before Pennsylvania, Buxton said.
He added that Pennsylvania is always in the top five or six influential states in general elections, yet it has little impact in the primaries due to the late election date. The 2008 presidential election will be the first time since Dwight Eisenhower that neither political party has an incumbent president or vice-president running in the primary.
Todd Taylor, president of the College Republicans, said he agrees with the proposed change in the election date.
Diane Gregg, chairwoman of the Centre County Democrats, said she is not surprised by the proposed move.
"Our state naturally wants to have an influence on the decision. So many states are shifting now that it is difficult to know how the logistics will shake out," she said.
Readshaw said he proposed similar legislation several years ago, and opponents said it was flawed because of the unpredictability of weather on Election Day.
Buxton said currently the main obstacle for this legislation is the Local Real Estate Tax Relief Act, which requires school districts to place budgets on the primary election ballot. He said he did not believe all school boards could have their budgets ready for a primary ballot by the first Tuesday of March.
Susan Welch, political scientist and dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said an earlier election date detracts from the ability of candidates to have an on-the-ground campaign where they can meet in small groups.
This type of interaction occurs during campaigning for the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primaries, but moving the date may force candidates to go straight to a mass media campaign, Welch said.
The governor's office is supportive of the legislation, yet it does acknowledge that Pennsylvania is behind the curve since more than a half-dozen states have just recently moved their primaries up, Kate Philips, press secretary for Gov. Ed Rendell, said.
