Hawaii Senate Passes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill

The Hawaii Senate on Tuesday, March 7 passed legislation creating a presidential primary in the Aloha state and scheduling the stand-alone election for Super Tuesday.

With little discussion and by a vote of 23-1, the upper chamber in the Hawaii state legislature passed SB 1005 with amendments added during the committee stage. The measure now heads to the House, where a similar bill was deferred in committee earlier this session after it failed to meet a deadline. But the House version was deferred because the Senate companion was further along in the legislative process.

Hawaii is the lone remaining state under unified Democratic control with no state-run presidential primary. That looks to change for 2024. Obviously, the bill would come back to the Senate if the House makes any changes, and one area that might force another Senate vote is the appropriation for the new, separate presidential primary election. There is an expenditure called for, but it remains blank in the version the Senate just passed. Ultimately, those funds come out of the Office of Elections and the amount (estimated at $2.7 million) may be specified more clearly in their budget.

If that proves to be a snag, it will likely be a minor one. SB 1005 now moves to the state House. 

Related:

3/1/23: Second Hawaii Committee Green Lights Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill

2/25/23: Hawaii Super Tuesday Primary Bill Stymied in House Committee

2/17/23: Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill Inches Forward in Hawaii

1/26/23: Companion Super Tuesday Bill Introduced in Hawaii House

1/23/23: Hawaii Senate Bill Proposes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary

1/20/23: Hawaii Bill Would Establish a Presidential Primary

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Invisible Primary: Visible -- Super Tuesday is just a year away

Thoughts on the invisible primary and links to the goings on of the moment as 2024 approaches...

There have not been a lot of them this cycle, but this figures to be the week that "candidates aren't heading out to Iowa like they used to" stories die. Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) will visit the Hawkeye state on March 10, and former President Donald Trump (R) will follow on the 13th. The other candidates -- announced and not -- have already made initial forays into the first state on the 2024 Republican presidential primary calendar but the frequency of visits will only grow with the current top two candidates in the Republican race hitting the circuit. 

...

Marianne Williamson (D) is in (again), Larry Hogan (R) is out, and JB Pritzker gets a white knight profile in the Times. Meanwhile, Biden, who has not officially entered the 2024 race but is widely expected to, is not getting a serious challenge from the likes of Pritzker for much the same reason Trump did not four years ago: incumbency. It has its advantages and is something Trump, former president though he may be, cannot claim for 2024. ...with not entirely unpredictable results.

Seth Masket has more about who is running for the Republican nomination.

...

Speaking of that lack of incumbency on the Republican side, there continues to be a steady stream of stories confirming that 2023 Trump is more organized than his campaign was in 2015 but not in the dominant position he was in 2019. Incumbency (or lack thereof) is part of but not the only explanation. 

The operative question at this point is whether Trump is closer in 2023 to 2015 than to 2019. That answer likely differs depending on what area one is talking about. On the delegate rules, 2023 Trump is likely closer to the 2019 version. But it is much harder to map out how the delegate rules will work in a competitive setting than in one with one or more viable alternatives. On endorsements and financing, there is some greater distance between Trump 2023 and Trump 2019. On media coverage and legal proceedings, 2023 is much different than both 2015 and 2019. But it is also early in a dynamic process. Things could turn back in Trump's direction on those fronts should it appear that the race is, well, turning in Trump's direction. That could happen in the invisible primary and it could develop during primary season.

Walter Shapiro has more on the pitfalls to avoid when trying to project the winding path that 2024 is likely to take.

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Kansas is trying to revive a presidential primary that was never really used in the past anyway. But there is a twist this time that may change that. 

...

On this date...

...in 2024, the nomination process will be just on the other side of Super Tuesday, a day that will once again feature primaries in California, Texas and eleven other states (as of now).

...in 2012, it was Super Tuesday, anchored by the primary in Ohio. That was such a backloaded calendar with California opting to return to its June consolidated primary, Texas forced to late May because of redistricting delays, and states overcorrecting in the face of new RNC rules that prohibited winner-take-all allocation before April. 

...in 1984, it was just another Tuesday. Democratic Party rules allowed non-exempt states to hold primaries and caucuses only as early as the second Tuesday in March. Super Tuesday, or what passed for it in those (still) early days of the post-reform era, was still a week away.

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Kansas Bill Would Reestablish Presidential Primary in the Sunflower State

New legislation introduced this past week in Kansas would reestablish a presidential primary, schedule it for May and consolidate that election with the primaries for other offices.

At the behest of Senator Caryn Tyson (R-12th, Anderson), the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs introduced SB 290. The measure would move all Kansas primaries from the first Tuesday following the first Monday in August to the first Tuesday following the first Monday in May. Additionally, the legislation would reestablish a presidential primary in the Sunflower state and consolidate the election with the rest of the primaries on that early May date. 

Kansas has an interesting history with the presidential primary. Actually, Kansas has very little history with a presidential primary as the means of allocating delegates to the national conventions. Only twice in the post-reform era has the state officially held a primary: in 1980 and again in 1992. And from 1996 until 2012, the dance that the Kansas legislature would perform would be to not appropriate funds for a presidential primary election and change the date in the statute referencing the election to the next cycle. That routine ended for the 2016 cycle when the presidential primary was struck from the Kansas statutes altogether, eliminating the contest and the need to (not) fund it. 

By consolidating the presidential primary with the others in May, this legislation circumvents the funding issues that plagued past attempts to conduct the presidential primary called for in Kansas code prior to 2015. However, that would have the effect of lengthening the general election campaigns for nominees seeking other offices in the Sunflower state. And the proposed early May date would overlap with the end of the legislative session in Kansas as well. Legislators in some other consolidated primary states have balked at having to fundraise for renomination in the midst of a legislative session because of the potential conflicts of interest it creates. Those sorts of complaints may or may not surface in the discussion around SB 290. So, too, may the fact that the state parties may still opt out of a primary election for allocating national convention delegates in favor of caucuses.

The first Tuesday following the first Monday in May is on May 7 in 2024, currently the same date as the Indiana primary. It also happens to be the point on the calendar when the Republican presidential primary process effectively ended in 2016. 

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This legislation has been added to FHQ's updated 2024 presidential primary calendar. 

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Second Hawaii Committee Green Lights Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill

The lone remaining active bill to establish a presidential primary in Hawaii and schedule the election for Super Tuesday advanced from the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, March 1. 

An amended SB 1005 was quickly passed by the panel with no objections. The move now clears the way for the legislation to be considered by the full Senate.

With the House companion bill bottled up in committee, the Senate version becomes the only viable path to creating a stand-alone presidential primary for 2024 in the Aloha state, a state that has only ever known party-run delegate selection/allocation processes. 

Hawaii is the last state government under unified Democratic control with no state-run presidential primary.

Related:

2/25/23: Hawaii Super Tuesday Primary Bill Stymied in House Committee

2/17/23: Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill Inches Forward in Hawaii

1/26/23: Companion Super Tuesday Bill Introduced in Hawaii House

1/23/23: Hawaii Senate Bill Proposes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary

1/20/23: Hawaii Bill Would Establish a Presidential Primary

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Hawaii Super Tuesday Primary Bill Stymied in House Committee

The Hawaii state House version of legislation to create a presidential primary and schedule it for Super Tuesday met a roadblock in the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee (JHA) on Friday, February 24. 

Testimony was taken in a hearing on HB 1485, and unlike the committee discussion on the Senate companion, the House bill revealed an internal squabble among the Hawaii Democratic Party over the potential change. While the state party supports the transition from a party-run process to a state-run primary -- both the state party chair and national committeeman spoke in favor of the move in the hearing -- the Stonewall Caucus within the party objected. At issue was not the party-run to state-run change, but rather, the possible shift from a closed caucus or party-run primary process to the open primary called for in the Hawaii constitution. That constitutional provision conflicts with a stated preference for a closed process in the Hawaii Democratic Party constitution. 

But that intra-party disagreement was not what derailed HB 1485 in committee. After all, all Hawaii officials are nominated in the very same open primaries. No, instead it was a technical issue that will bottle the legislation up in committee on the House side and likely kill it. 

On the recommendation of committee chair, Rep. David Tarnas (D-8th, Hawi), JHA deferred the measure because it missed a just-passed deadline for bills to have been moved out of their initial committees. HB 1485 came to the panel with no stated appropriation, but the Hawaii Office of Elections estimated the cost to the state at $2.7 million, something that would cause it to be re-referred to the Finance Committee. That need for a secondary committee referral triggered the lateral deadline.

However, HB 1485 being blocked does not kill the effort to create a presidential primary election in Hawaii this session. It just kills the House version. The Senate companion legislation, the amended SB 1005, made it through its first committee ahead of the deadline and will move to Ways and Means where the price tag of the proposed stand-alone primary will be debated. It is that bill -- the Senate companion -- that will now become the vehicle for the Super Tuesday presidential primary effort. 

No hearing has been scheduled for SB 1005 in Senate Ways and Means as of now.

Related:

2/17/23: Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill Inches Forward in Hawaii

1/26/23: Companion Super Tuesday Bill Introduced in Hawaii House

1/23/23: Hawaii Senate Bill Proposes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary

1/20/23: Hawaii Bill Would Establish a Presidential Primary

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Legislation Would Make the California Presidential Primary Date Unspecified

Here is an interesting one from California. 

Legislation introduced back in December  would strike out the phrase "first Tuesday after the first Monday in March" and replace it with "____" in the portion of the California electoral code that schedules the Golden state's consolidated primary in years evenly divisible by four.

One could wrangle over the implications, but in truth, SB 24, sponsored by Senator Thomas Umberg (D-34th, Santa Ana), is likely a temporary placeholder for a substantive change to the date of the presidential primary. It is either a change the senator would like to make/explore or an idea around which he would like to build consensus over the course of the 2023 legislative session.

There was a variation on this maneuver in California during the 2012 cycle. That bill went nowhere, but the separate California presidential primary was eventually eliminated and consolidated once again with the primaries for other offices in June. The 2017 change that pushed the presidential primary in the Golden state to Super Tuesday for 2020 moved the whole consolidated primary to March rather than separating the two elections. That is where the California presidential primary is currently scheduled.

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As an aside, FHQ would argue that removing the date altogether from California electoral code would not be all that functionally different from the way that New York handles the scheduling of its presidential primary every four years. The protocol in the Empire state has been to set the parameters around which the presidential primary will be conducted and delegates allocated and then sunset the change after the presidential election year concludes. The date reverts to February and the state revisits the date every four years. Theoretically, it is the national party rules that force the reexamination of the primary's timing in New York. A February date is noncompliant and actors on the state level are at least somewhat compelled to make a change. Those New York legislators do not necessarily have to do that every four years -- the change does not have to sunset -- but that has been the standard operating procedure there dating back to the 2012 cycle. 

Functionally, a California law that would hypothetically leave a blank for the presidential primary date -- well, the consolidated primary in years evenly divisible by four -- would force the same sort of quadrennial reflection. However, that would be an atypical move. The New York method is already unique, but it at least has some justification. There is permanent guidance in the statute on where the primary should be scheduled. It just has to be changed from the February date every four years. 

It would be unusual for a state, California in this case, to provide no guidance for the timing of not just a presidential primary, but a primary for a host of other offices as well in presidential election years. 

Regardless, that blank will either be filled in at some point during this bill's consideration in 2023 or the legislation will likely not go anywhere. And it may not get beyond the committee stage anyway. 

But California always bears watching. Although it is a Democratic state, it is still the most populous state and the most delegate-rich state in the Republican presidential nomination process. If California packs it up and moves everything back to June, then that will have some impact on the Republican calculus of acquiring delegates, likely delaying when any candidate might clinch the nomination. 

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This legislation has been added to FHQ's updated 2024 presidential primary calendar. 

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Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill Inches Forward in Hawaii

The state Senate version of a bill to create a presidential primary in Hawaii and schedule the election for Super Tuesday advanced out of committee on Thursday, February 16. 

By a vote of 4-1 with the lone Republican on the panel in opposition, the Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee recommended SB 1005 be passed with amendments. None of the amendments dealt with the scheduling of the primary, but instead mainly focused on technical corrections/additions to the introduced legislation from the Scott Nago, the chief elections officer from the Hawaii Office of Elections.¹

Aside from those issues, the biggest concern that emerged in the committee hearing for the bill was about a state party's ability to opt out of the proposed state-run primary. After hearing from a representative of the Hawaii Democratic Party, Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D-2nd, Puna) asked of there was any input from the state Republican Party on the matter and whether an opt-out was included in the legislation for any party that may choose to stick with the caucuses that have been traditionally used to select and allocate delegates to the national conventions. With no representative from the state Republican Party present and the lone Republican on the committee, Sen. Brenton Awa (R-23rd, Kāne'ohe), silent on the matter, that question was left largely unanswered. However, an amendment was inserted in the legislation to provide for a deadline of six months before the proposed presidential primary for state parties to inform the state as to their intentions to participate in the presidential primary or not. 

The Hawaii Office of Elections estimated the cost of the presidential primary election to be north of $2.7 million. That was not a roadblock in the committee consideration of the bill, but it may receive push back when the full Senate -- or Ways and Means, where SB 1005 is headed next -- takes up the legislation. Whether that potential resistance is enough to derail the whole package is an open question. Cost of the election will be weighed against any pressure the Democratic majority feels to bend toward the discouragements of the national party to avoid caucuses. Hawaii is the only state with unified Democratic control of state government as of now with no state-run presidential primary option.

Related:

1/26/23: Companion Super Tuesday Bill Introduced in Hawaii House

1/23/23: Hawaii Senate Bill Proposes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary

1/20/23: Hawaii Bill Would Establish a Presidential Primary

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¹ Most of the amendments were geared toward firming up specific deadlines for candidate filing and about language that would have to be tweaked due to the nature of a presidential primary. Unlike other primaries, the winner of a presidential primary is not necessarily the candidate who will appear on the general election ballot, a distinction not currently included in Hawaii electoral code.

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Competing Oregon Senate Bill Would Move Presidential Primary to Super Tuesday

Earlier in January, a bill was introduced in the Oregon state Senate to move the state's consolidated primary -- including the presidential primary -- up to Super Tuesday. 

SB 499 is not the first legislation in recent years in the Beaver state to propose uprooting the primary from its traditional third Tuesday in May position, and apparently it will not be the last. Now, there is a competing bill that aims to more fully address the obstacles that have stood in the way of past attempts. 

Senator James Manning, Jr. (D-7th, North Eugene) this past week filed SB 804. Like SB 499, the new measure proposes shifting the Oregon consolidated primary up to the first Tuesday in March in presidential years. Keeping the primaries consolidated saves the state from having to foot the bill for two elections in the first half of the year. However, Manning's bill would also move the primary back a week in midterm years to the fourth Tuesday in May. 

Additionally, SB 804 would push the beginning of the Oregon legislative session in presidential primary years to the beginning of May (rather than the beginning of February). This is a common snag that legislation hits in states with presidential primaries tethered to a later, consolidated primaries. Legislators in those situations have tended to shy away from scheduling a primary to occur during a legislative session. It would require them to raise money and campaign during a time when they are changing policy and making budgetary decisions, something that could give the impression of pay-for-play corruption. A March primary in presidential years combined with a May start to that year's legislative session would avoid the bulk of the most direct, possible conflict of interest opportunities. 

That combination of changes to the existing law would smooth the path for a presidential primary date change -- one that brings Oregon voters closer to a position to weigh in on the nominations before the races are effectively over. However, if these sorts of exercises in other states are any guide, then the earlier candidate filing period needed to accommodate the new, earlier primary election may potentially draw the ire of election administrators across the Beaver state. If the altered filing period overlaps too much with elections officials finalizing their work from the off-year election (in the year before a presidential election), then those elections officials could balk at the proposed change. 

So, if one were to handicap the odds of either of these bills passing and becoming law, SB 804 likely stands a better shot. But that does not mean it is out of the woods yet. Neither bill has a confirmed committee hearing as of this time. 

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This legislation has been added to FHQ's updated 2024 presidential primary calendar. 

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1/10/23: A Super Tuesday Presidential Primary in Oregon?

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Companion Super Tuesday Bill Introduced in Hawaii House

Another bill to establish a presidential primary in Hawaii and schedule it for Super Tuesday in 2024 has been introduced in the state House in the Aloha state. 

Speaker of the House, Rep. Scott Saiki (D-25th, Ala Moana), filed HB 1485, legislation with the same language as SB 1005. That this bill has the backing of the speaker says something about how seriously the legislature is likely approaching legislation to shift from caucuses to using a primary for allocating national convention delegates in the presidential nomination process. It is not a sure thing, in other words, but has more robust support than the similar efforts in 2018.

But again, Hawaii is small enough, Democratic enough and far enough away from the mainland that it will be difficult to garner much attention from presidential candidates anyway. But even lost in a sea of more delegate-rich contests on Super Tuesday, a primary there would at least insure that more Hawaiians from both major parties have the opportunity to weigh in with their presidential preferences before the race is (likely to be) effectively over in a May position. Depending on how these two bills progress (and another proposing a May primary), however, these are the sorts of ideas that the Hawaii legislature will consider when scrutinizing these two bills. 

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This legislation has been added to the updated 2024 presidential primary calendar. 

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Hawaii Senate Bill Proposes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary

The Hawaii state legislature gaveled in just last week, but already there is movement on establishing a presidential primary in the lone state with unified Democratic control without one. 

The political parties of the Aloha state have traditionally utilized a caucus/convention system for allocating and selecting delegates to the national conventions. But that began to change in 2020 when Hawaii Democrats shifted to a party-run primary and things look to incrementally progress even further during the 2024 cycle. Last week, new legislation was introduced in the Hawaii state House to establish a presidential primary in May and conduct a feasibility study to best optimize such a shift (presumably in subsequent cycles). 

Now, senators in the upper chamber are presenting their own presidential primary proposal. A trio of Democrats, Senator Karl Rhoads (D-13th, Dowsett Highlands), Senator Stanley Chang (D-9th, Hawai'i Kai) and Senator Gilbert Keith-Agaran (D-5th, Wailuku), have filed SB 1005. It scraps the feasibility study of the House bill and creates a presidential primary scheduled for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March. In most cycles, that would fall on Super Tuesday. It would also potentially stand a better chance of luring Hawaii Republicans into using the primary (not to mention supporting the bill). On Super Tuesday, the proposed state-run presidential primary would better align with where Republicans in the Aloha state have recently held the initial precinct caucuses, the second Tuesday in March. 

Hawaii is small enough, Democratic enough and far enough away from the mainland that it will be difficult to garner much attention from presidential candidates anyway. But even lost in a sea of more delegate-rich contests on Super Tuesday, a primary there would at least insure that Hawaiians from both major parties have the opportunity to weigh in with their presidential preferences before the race is (likely to be) effectively over in a May position. Depending on how these two bills progress, however, these are the sorts of ideas that the Hawaii legislature will consider when scrutinizing these two bills. 

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This legislation has been added to the updated 2024 presidential primary calendar. 

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Legislation is on the way to move Pennsylvania presidential primary up

Word broke on Tuesday that legislation is forthcoming in Pennsylvania to shift the presidential primary in the Keystone state up to the third Tuesday in March for the 2024 cycle. 

State House Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-181th, Philadelphia) and Rep. Jared G. Solomon (D-202nd, Philadelphia) said in a statement:

Pennsylvania has been a pivotal battleground state and will be again in 2024. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s presidential primary is the fourth Tuesday in April, long after many states have voted for a presidential nominee. This makes our commonwealth one of the last states in the nation to weigh in despite being a crucial swing state. Our voters should have more influence in selecting the most qualified presidential nominee for each party.

In the near future, we will introduce legislation to adjust our petition circulation schedule and move Pennsylvania’s next presidential primary date up by one month to the third Tuesday in March, making our next presidential primary date March 19th, 2024. 

This will increase Pennsylvania’s importance in future presidential primary elections, giving our residents increased national political weight in line with our state's size and importance. With an earlier primary, Pennsylvania voters will represent the 'keystone' needed for each candidate to win their party's nomination in 2024 and beyond.

A bill has yet to be filed, but this revives an effort that has been unsuccessful over the last two legislative sessions. It would push the Pennsylvania primary up to a spot on the calendar it would share with Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, making March 19 an even more delegate-rich date on the calendar. And while the move would bring the presidential primary in the commonwealth up into a potentially more competitive position in March, it would mean abandoning a slot where the Pennsylvania primary is the clear biggest prize on April 23, the fourth Tuesday in April.

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A Super Tuesday Presidential Primary in Oregon?

If at first you don't succeed...

What did not work in 2019 and a revamped version of which also failed in 2021 will be back up for consideration in Salem in 2023. At stake is an earlier Oregon presidential primary. Senator Suzanne Weber (R-16th, Tillamook) has filed SB 499 to move the consolidated primary -- including the presidential primary -- from May all the way up to the first Tuesday in March, Super Tuesday, in presidential election years. 

Only once in the post-reform era has the Beaver state shifted away from its mid-May primary date. For 1996, the Oregon legislature established a late March presidential primary distinct from the third Tuesday in May primaries for state and local offices. More recent efforts, including SB 499, have all attempted to avoid legislation that would have the state incur the costs of a new and entirely separate election to accommodate the timing of the presidential nomination process while leaving everything else in May. 

The question is, is the 2024 cycle any different? 

When the Oregon legislature officially convenes next week, the Senate will begin considering a move of the primaries anew. Where moving consolidated primaries meet snags with legislators is when those primaries -- typically their own -- conflict state legislative sessions. Asking for campaign contributions during a legislative session is something that is frowned upon in those states across the country that do not have full-time legislatures. This move would bring the Oregon primaries closer to but not necessarily overlap with the short session that Oregon gavels in every even-numbered year. However, it would also make the general election campaign for those legislators (and everyone else being nominated at the time) longer and more expensive. 

That cost may not affect the state's budgetary bottom line, but it carries external costs to other actors involved at which decision makers may balk.

But the shift to March would bring Oregon in line with all of its bordering neighbors, all of whom have March or earlier contests. 

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A link to this legislation has been added to the 2024 FHQ presidential primary calendar.

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Oregon Bill Would Shift Presidential Primary to Super Tuesday

Legislation introduced earlier this month in Oregon would push the Beaver state's typical mid-May primary up to the first Tuesday in March.

SB 785, authored by Sen. Lee Beyer (D-6th, Springfield) resembles in part a bill from the last legislative session in 2019 which would have similarly moved the presidential primary up to Super Tuesday. However, the 2021 bill would move the entire consolidated primary -- including those for other offices -- into March in presidential election years only. The measure would additionally shift back the date on which the legislative session would commence in those years from February to May. The latter change also differs from the 2019 bill and saves state legislators from campaigning or raising money during the legislative session.

While that issue was not raised in the public hearing for the failed 2019 Super Tuesday bill, it was among the shortcomings of the legislation. The committee that heard the testimony on that bill also balked at the costs of a separate presidential primary and the impact it would have on election administrators. 

SB 785 addresses those issues, but it remains to be seen whether it will be any more successful than its predecessor was. Neighboring states all hold March or earlier contests, but the year after a presidential election is not a time when this type of legislation tends to move. But it would align Oregon with its neighbors if signed into law.

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A link to this legislation will be added to the 2024 FHQ presidential primary calendar.

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American Samoa Democrats Again Aim for Super Tuesday Caucuses

The American Samoa Democratic Party on July 3 released for public comment a draft 2020 delegate selection plan.

Much of the 2016 process has been carried over to 2020. There will again be ten delegates in the American Samoa delegation: six at-large delegates and four automatic delegates (DNC members). It will be those six delegates that will be allocated based on the results of the territorial caucuses. Those caucuses will fall on Super Tuesday again (March 3, the first Tuesday in March).

Candidates receiving more than 15 percent of the vote territory-wide will be eligible to be allocated a proportional share of the six at-large delegates.

The plan treats the four members of the American Samoa Democratic Party Executive Committee -- the party chair, vice chair, national committeeman and national committeewoman -- as pledged party leader and elected official (PLEO) delegates, but only if they opt to run and be elected/selected for those positions; something new in the Democratic delegate selection rules for the 2020 cycle. Additionally, there is no specific plan outlined for pledging those delegates to candidates based on the results of the caucuses. The assumption then, it seems, is that those four DNC members from the territory will remain automatic and unpledged (and ineligible for participation on the first ballot if no one candidate receives a majority of all delegates including the automatic delegates).

The American Samoa Democratic caucuses now become the sixteenth contest on Super Tuesday 2020.


The American Samoa Democratic caucuses date has been added to the 2020 FHQ presidential primary calendar.


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Governor Polis Sets Colorado Presidential Primary Date for Super Tuesday

Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) on Tuesday finalized the date of the 2020 Colorado presidential primary.¹ In consultation with the Colorado secretary of state, the governor chose Super Tuesday from a narrow range of March Tuesdays as defined in statute after a 2016 ballot initiative reestablished the presidential primary option.

The decision aligns the Colorado presidential primary with primaries or caucuses in 13 other states and territories. Already the most delegate-rich date on the 2020 presidential primary calendar, the addition of primary in the Centennial state puts even more weight on the March 3 Super Tuesday.

This will be the first cycle in which Colorado has conducted a presidential primary since a three cycle run from 1992-2000. Parties in the state have held caucuses since then.


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¹ Full press release from Governor Polis's office announcing the date:

Governor Polis and Secretary of State Griswold announced March 3rd, 2020 as Colorado’s new presidential primary date

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2019

DENVER — Today Governor Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced March 3rd, 2020 as the new date for Colorado’s presidential primary. The two were joined by leaders from the Democratic, Republican, Unity American Constitution and Approval Voting parties.

“Our Super Tuesday primaries will be a tremendous opportunity to participate in democracy and for Coloradans to have their voices heard by presidential candidates in all parties,” said Governor Jared Polis. “We are proud of 2018’s record turnout, as well as Colorado’s status as a leader on voting rights. We hope to build on that momentum by participating in a primary along with other Super Tuesday states to ensure that all major candidates listen firsthand to the concerns of Colorado voters.”

In 2016, Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 107, which restored primary elections in Colorado in presidential election years. The state was previously using the caucus system.

“I am excited to join Governor Polis in officially setting March 3, 2020 -- Super Tuesday -- as the date for Colorado’s 2020 presidential primary. This will be the first presidential primary in Colorado in 20 years -- and the first where unaffiliated voters will be able to participate,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “As Colorado’s Secretary of State, I believe in the power of our democracy. A secure and accessible presidential primary will give Coloradans the opportunity to create the future we imagine.”

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The Colorado primary date is now reflected on the 2020 FHQ Presidential Primary Calendar.

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Utah Democrats Will Use New Presidential Primary Option for 2020

With the release of a draft of its 2020 delegate selection plan, the Utah Democratic Party has confirmed that it will utilize the new presidential primary signed into law recently by Governor Gary Herbert (R).

The confirmation means that Utah Democrats will return to a primary for delegate allocation for the first time since the 2008 cycle. The state party opted for caucuses in 2012 when there was no national party rules-compliant primary option. The February date in state statute was too early and the late June option added that cycle for state Republicans was too late. Both parties used caucuses in 2016 when the presidential primary was not funded by the state.

Like the last time Utah Democrats used a primary for delegate allocation in 2008, the election will fall on Super Tuesday. In the Democratic delegate apportionment formula, Utah is not delegate-rich, falling behind ten of the 13 states now slated to hold delegate selection events on Super Tuesday.

Finally, in the switch from 2016 caucuses to 2020 primary, Utah becomes part of another trend. The Beehive state now joins Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska and Washington state as states to have opted into state government-run primary elections for the 2020 cycle.

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The Utah Democratic Party decision opt into the primary will be reflected on the 2020 FHQ presidential primary calendar.



Related:
2/25/19: Legislation Would Push Reestablished Utah Presidential Primary to Super Tuesday

3/7/19: Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill Introduced in Utah

3/11/19 (a): Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill Unanimously Passes Senate Committee Stage in Utah

3/11/19 (b): Utah Senate Passes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill

3/14/19: Utah House Passes Super Tuesday Presidential Primary Bill

4/1/19: Utah Presidential Primary Shifts to Super Tuesday


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