Bill to move 2016 Presidential Primary dies in committee

SB233, which would have moved Oklahoma's Presidential Primary from the first Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in April fourth Tuesday in March (they amended it back to the original wording), has been defeated in the State House Elections & Ethics Committee this morning.

The vote was 2 in favor, 5 opposed. The bill had been advocated for by OKGOP Chairman Dave Weston, but received strong opposition from many grassroots activists. Both Randy Brogdon and Pam Pollard, who are running against Weston for OKGOP Chair, were against the measure.

Voting in favor of the bill were Reps. Banz (R) and Joyner (R). Voting against it were Reps. Condit (D), Dank (R), Perryman (D), Rogers (R), and Wesselhoft (R).

This is a victory for keeping Oklahoma more engaged and relevant in the 2016 presidential primary.

Oklahoma should not move Presidential Primary back

On March 3rd, the Oklahoma State Senate passed SB233 by a vote of 39-2. The measure would move Oklahoma's presidential primary from the first Tuesday in March to the fourth Tuesday in March. This would move the 2016 primary from March 1st to March 22nd, 2016.

Moving the primary back to March 22nd would allow - under RNC rules - for the state's delegates to be awarded in a winner-take-all format, like they were in 2008, as opposed to the proportional method used in 2012. The argument is that by moving our election date back to allow for winner-take-all, Oklahoma will have more influence on the primary. I disagree.

Moving from March 1st to March 22nd would put 15-20 additional states ahead of us in the schedule. As things stand right now, with a March 1st date for Oklahoma, only about five or six states are ahead of us (IA/NH/SC/NV plus maybe CO/NC). On March 1st, around 10-15 states are likely to vote, including large states like Texas and Florida.

If we move our primary to March 22nd, about half of the states will have already voted, and the nominee will likely be decided. Staying at March 1st allows us to have some relevance in the race.

I urge the State House to vote SB233 down. Contact your legislators here and ask them to vote against SB233, and keep a March 1st presidential primary.