The standoff over the Republican primary calendar, sparked by Florida jumping the calendar into January — and in which New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner has now threatened to hold his state’s primary in December, if Nevada does not move its caucus from January 14 to January 17 — could be on the verge of resolution. And interestingly, the compromise would go even further than that: Nevada would move its caucus all the way to February 4, after even Florida.
As the Las Vegas Review Journal reports, RNC chairman Reince Priebus sent Nevada GOP chairwoman Amy Tarkanian a letter on Thursday, saying in part: “A February 4 caucus date will eliminate the uncertainty caused by Florida’s action and the posturing by New Hampshire’s secretary of state, restore order to the primary calendar and benefit Nevada in multiple ways.” The February date would also mean Nevada is spared from an automatic penalty of the RNC rules, to have their delegates cut in half from 28 to 14.
Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) is defending the potential deal, against accusations that the state is caving to pressure. “I don’t think it’s caving at all,” said Sandoval. “I don’t call it caving when you’re trying to work for the good of all.”
As Ray Hagar at the Reno Gazette Journal points out, this would also mean that the Nevada caucus would be held the day before the Super Bowl, and have to compete for the public’s attention with that major national event.
This whole mess began when Florida challenged the official primary calendar, by moving its primary to January 31 — thus triggering a wave of counter-moves by the officially sanctioned early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The wave initially began in reverse-order, with the South Carolina GOP selecting January 21, followed by the Nevada GOP picking January 14.
However, when Nevada moved its caucuses to January 14, a Saturday, this incensed New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner — whose job is to ensure the state’s early position on the calendar. In response, Gardner issued a statement calling for Nevada to back off its date, to at least Tuesday the 17th — or else, he threatened, New Hampshire could hold its primary in early December.
Republicans in Iowa, which traditionally holds its caucuses before New Hampshire, have voted to have the event on January 3, the same date as in 2008 — when the calendar was also moved up, thanks to calendar-jumping by Florida and Michigan.
