This GOP proposal could have big implications for New Hampshire’s primary status
New Hampshire certainly won't be on board.
New Hampshire’s cherished status as the “first in the nation” primary election could come with some caveats in future years, though not if the Granite State has anything to say about it.
The New York Times reports that Republican party leaders, dissatisfied with how the primary election process has gone, are considering shaking up the states who vote earliest in the season. Traditionally, Iowa has held the first caucus, followed by New Hampshire with the first primary and then South Carolina.
Under one proposal floated to the Times, those early states would maintain their early status but would be paired with a nearby state to form pseudo-regional votes. So in 2020, for example, NH would vote on the same day as Massachusetts. In 2024, it would be paired with Maine, according to this proposal.
“I think there will be a serious discussion about the carve-out states and how that process works,” Henry Barbour, national committeeman from Mississippi and a member of the Rules Committee, told the Times.
But New Hampshire doesn’t sound like they’ll be getting on board any change, The Boston Globe‘s James Pindell reports.
State law in New Hampshire says that the Granite State must hold its presidential primary first and must be seven days before any similar vote.
“Massachusetts would pick a day and then New Hampshire would pick a week before that date as mandated in the law,” former New Hampshire attorney general Tom Rath told the Globe.
The state takes its “First In The Nation” primary seriously, even coining the #FITN hashtag as a catch-all for New Hampshire politics.
When Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus suggested a shakeup in the early primary calendar, he earned a rare bipartisan rebuke from New Hampshire’s Republican and Democratic committee leaders.
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