Showing posts with label presidential primaries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presidential primaries. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Idaho Republicans to consider resolution to get the Gem state out of the primary business altogether

The Idaho Republican Party will gather for its 2026 state convention this weekend and among its business is consideration of a pair of resolutions that, taken together, would attempt to push the state entirely out of using state-run primary elections for party nominations.

And what is driving the effort to shift to nominations by caucuses? The "whereas" section of Resolution 19 spells it out...

WHEREAS: The goal of the Idaho Republican party is to select candidates who best represent the Idaho Republican Platform and who will vote to maintain a conservative Idaho way of life.

WHEREAS: Republican candidates, elected to office, have failed to vote to uphold the Idaho Constitution, the Republican Platform, and conservative values they espoused when campaigning.

WHEREAS: The ability to select the candidates who best represent Republican Party Values in primary elections has been jeopardized by candidates misrepresenting themselves as Republicans to be competitive.

WHEREAS: The Idaho closed Republican primary has been irrevocably compromised by non-Republican voters’ ability to register as Republicans for the primary election and the state has no way of stopping this practice.

WHEREAS: The state has no remedy for closed primary crossover voting

WHEREAS: Unaffiliated and newly registered voters can choose to vote in the Republican primary on election day

WHEREAS: Caucusing diminishes the ability for non-Republicans to infiltrate the Republican Party vote for representation.

WHEREAS: Caucusing allows more engaged discussion, debate, and informed voter participation to discern the candidates most representative of the Idaho Republican Platform, conservative values, and the Idaho Constitution.
There is a certain circularity to it all. Basically, non-Republicans have "infiltrated" the partially closed primary system in Idaho. Only, it has not been partially closed. The Republican primary has been closed, full stop, since the 2012 cycle, something current IDP Chair Dorothy Moon raised in a recent op-ed. Under Idaho state law, the state parties can choose whether unaffiliated voters and/or those affiliated with other parties can participate in their primaries. And the Idaho Republican Party has always confined participation to registered Republicans. 

But voters are free to register and affiliate with a party of their choosing whether they are truly Republicans (or Democrats, etc.) or not. And that is where the infiltration has occurred. Non-Republicans, however defined, have registered as Republicans and elected Republicans who have not "best represent[ed] the Idaho Republican Platform."

"The state has no remedy for closed primary crossover voting." But what is not clear is whether the Idaho Republican Party has such a remedy. Sure, a party-run caucus is going to have a lower rate of participation than a state-run primary. However, that is only a partial remedy. It does not fully eliminate the potential for "infiltration." 

Why? 

For an answer, look to the 2024 Idaho Republican presidential caucuses. They, too, were a closed affair with no on-site registration. What did the Idaho Republican Party use to determine affiliation with the party for the purposes of participating in the 2024 caucus? 

State voter rolls. 

The same remediless option the state uses for the primary. The only difference was that the Idaho Republican Party required voters to have registered/affiliated with the party by January 1, 2024 (ahead of the March 2 caucuses). That tamps down on any last-minute registrations, but not those fully committed to voting Republican in a given cycle. 


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Noteworthy: Mind you, all of this is based on a couple of non-binding resolution proposals the Idaho Republican Party is considering this weekend in Meridian. The delegates to the convention may reject either or both. But even if the convention votes in favor of one or both of Resolutions 18 and/or 19, there is nothing there to compel the (Republican-controlled) legislature in Boise to make the necessary changes to state law to change the nomination process.

And while none of this directly affects the presidential nomination process in the Gem state for Republicans, the outcome will likely color any discussions around any resumed efforts to resurrect the state-run presidential primary. Prior attempts have already failed in both 2024 and 2026.



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New legislation proposes slight shift in New Jersey primary timing

Late last week, New Jersey state Sen. Brian Stack (D-33rd, Union City) introduced legislation -- S 4445 -- to push back the primary in the Garden state by a week. 

The impetus for the bill's introduction is the conflict between the early voting period for the state's June consolidated primary and the Memorial Day holiday. Stack's reasoning, according to the New Jersey Globe, was simple enough...
"This year, the June 2 primary triggered in-person early voting to begin on the day after Memorial Day. Stack wants some daylight between the holiday weekend and the start of the six-day early voting period.

“'The whole purpose of six days of early voting in the primary is to increase voter turnout,' Stack said. 'Starting right after Memorial Day really crimps the turnout. It defeats the purpose.'

"Some election officials noted that being closed on the day before the first day of early voting creates obstacles to early voting, including confirming board workers and delivering machines."
The fix in S 4445? 

Shift the primary back a week from the Tuesday after the first Monday in June to the Tuesday after the second Monday in June. That would push the beginning of the early voting period (and preparation for it) out of conflict with Memorial Day in late May.

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Noteworthy: Now, this is not an example of frontloading. Quite the contrary, actually. If this bill is enacted, then New Jersey would be backloading the consolidated primary (including the presidential primary) about as far as it could be without penalty under national party rules. 

...under most circumstances. 

Let's consider 2028. Under the provisions of this measure, the New Jersey primary would fall on June 13, the Tuesday after the second Monday in June. 

The last date on which a primary or caucus can be held under Democratic National Committee delegate selection rules is the second Tuesday in June. That would be June 13 in 2028, the last possible date on the Democratic presidential primary calendar.

On the Republican side, things are a touch more complicated because Republican National Committee rules provide two (conditional) last dates for the primary calendar. The last date on which primaries and caucuses can be conducted under Republican rules is either the second Saturday in June or less than 45 days before the start of the national convention. June 13, 2028 would be fine for New Jersey Republicans under the former. The second Saturday in June is June 17 in 2028. And while the date of the 2028 Republican National Convention is unknown at this time, following established norms where the party in the White House holds the later of the two major party conventions, a June 13 date would likely be outside of the 45 day window established by the RNC rules. 

So June 13 looks okay for New Jersey in 2028. 

But fast forward four years to 2032 when June begins on a Tuesday. That puts the Tuesday after the second Monday of June on June 15, a date after both the second Tuesday in June (June 8) described in DNC rules and the second Saturday in June (June 12) from the RNC guidelines. It would mean at least a 50 percent reduction to the Democratic delegation from the Garden state and the super penalty for New Jersey's Republican delegation (reduction to 12 total delegates).

Of course, Sen. Stack, again according to the Globe, has anticipated that possible conflict. "But Stack also acknowledged that New Jersey’s hands might be tied in presidential elections since national party rules require delegates to be selected by a certain date. He said he has no intention of diminishing the state’s role in the presidential nomination process and is willing to amend his bill to exempt presidential primaries if necessary."

But what that exemption would look like for a presidential primary is unknown. Would it still be held on the current date -- the Tuesday after the first Monday in June -- and in conflict with Memorial Day? Presumably not. 

There are two alternatives. 

The first is less an exemption for the presidential primary than a breaking up of the consolidated primary to hold a separate presidential primary on a date compliant with both parties' rules and everything else on the Tuesday after the second Tuesday in June as called for in this bill. That would "free up" the legislature in Trenton to move the separate presidential primary to some earlier -- or much earlier -- date on the calendar. Granted, "freeing up" also means the state funding the new and separate presidential primary election (which may or may not prove problematic).

The second option is to create a presidential year -- and not presidential primary -- exemption. In other words, in all years but those divisible by four, the New Jersey primary would fall on the Tuesday after the second Monday in June as called for in Stack's legislation. However, in presidential election years, the date of the consolidated primary would be both earlier and compliant with national party rules. 

Or, you know, Sen. Stack could avoid all of these complications and propose shifting the New Jersey consolidated primary in the other direction: into late May (rather than mid-June). Holding a primary and any attendant early voting period slightly before Memorial Day is a means to the same end as well. 

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This bill will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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Friday, June 12, 2026

On to the governor: Super Tuesday primary bills clear final legislative hurdles in Rhode Island

Presidential primary legislation was caught up in the hustle and bustle of the final day of the 2026 session of the Rhode Island General Assembly on Thursday, June 11. Both the state House and Senate concurred with the versions of legislation passed in the opposite chamber to move the presidential primary in the Ocean state to Super Tuesday. 

H 7090 was unanimously concurred with (38-0) as a part of a multi-bill consent calendar package as the first order of business before the Senate in the afternoon session. And the story was identical on the other side of the capitol in the House. S 2491, the Senate-passed version, was concurred with in the lower chamber in similar fashion by a vote of 63-0. 

Both measures now head to Governor Dan McKee (D) for his consideration.  

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Noteworthy: Rhode Island now moves a step closer to shifting its presidential primary from the end of April to the earliest Tuesday on the primary calendar that complies with national party rules. The primary in the Ocean state would join contests in at least 14 other states on Super Tuesday. [Puerto Rico Democrats have already stated their intention to schedule their primary for the first Tuesday in March as well.]


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Related:


This action will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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Thursday, June 11, 2026

Rhode Island Senate committee tees up concurrence vote on Super Tuesday presidential primary bill

The Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee quickly took up and, without debate, signed off on H 7090 on Tuesday, June 9. That House-passed measure aims to move the presidential primary in the Ocean state from the fourth Tuesday in April up to the first Tuesday in March, Super Tuesday. The panel recommended that the upper chamber concur with the House on the legislation.

The bill now heads to the Senate floor where it is up for consideration on the consent calendar for Thursday, June 11.


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Noteworthy: After a quiet 2026 in terms of primary calendar movement ahead of 2028, Rhode Island has inched up to the precipice of becoming the first state to move (via legislative action) this year. 

The move, if it comes to fruition, would schedule the Rhode Island presidential primary back on the first Tuesday in March for the first time since 2008 and back on Super Tuesday for the first time since 2004.

The Senate version of the legislation passed the upper chamber last week.

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Related:


This action will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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Thursday, June 4, 2026

Super Tuesday presidential primary bill unanimously passes Rhode Island Senate

With the clocking winding down on the 2026 session the Rhode Island Senate ran through a lost list of legislation rapid fire on Thursday, June 4. Among the bills addressed, the upper chamber in the Ocean state took up and without debate unanimously passed -- 37-0 -- a measure to shift the presidential primary to Super Tuesday starting in 2028. S 2491 would move the Rhode Island presidential primary from the fourth Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday in March, Super Tuesday.


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Noteworthy: Separate bills with identical language have now navigated through their respective chambers of origin. The House version passed at the end of April and has been in the Senate since early May. The session adjourns on June 30.


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This action will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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Rhode Island Senate committee advances Super Tuesday presidential primary bill

On Tuesday, June 2, the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee positively reported S 2491, the upper chamber's companion bill intended to shift the presidential primary in the Ocean state from the end of April to Super Tuesday in early March. The measure was advanced without debate and only one dissent in the committee's voice vote. 


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Noteworthy: As the Senate version of the Super Tuesday bill had previously had a hearing in Judiciary, the panel opted to take it up in executive session rather than start the process anew with the identical House-passed version in the waning days of the legislative session in Providence. S 2491 is on the calendar for consideration by the full Senate on Thursday, June 4.



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This action will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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Thursday, May 28, 2026

"Republicans are gutting southern Dem districts. Dems might front-load the South in its 2028 primaries to respond."


"Democrats are weighing whether they can use their 2028 primary calendar to try to rebuild their party’s strength in the South amid aggressive GOP gerrymanders.

"As Democratic National Committee members meet in D.C. this week to discuss which states will lead the next presidential nominating contest, the GOP push to dismantle majority-Black districts and dilute Democrats’ power across the South is ratcheting up the selection stakes. Some members are now advocating for two southern states to make the cut as the Callais ruling adds fresh urgency to Democrats’ long-running debate over how to amplify the voices of Black voters who have long been the party’s backbone."


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Noteworthy: A couple of thoughts about this...
  1. Even before the Callais decision came down, it was true that approaching a majority of the states -- five of 12 -- that applied for a waiver from the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) to hold an early contest in 2028 were from the south. That has not changed following the decision. As I said at our sister site, FHQ Plus back in January: "The only other mysteries are if there will be a fifth state and which state that may be. The overrepresentation of southern states in the pool may give the region an advantage in claiming a second spot among the would-be five early states. Granted, that is far from guaranteed." Post-Callais, that overrepresentation of the South positions the DNC to make a statement with the calendar. [Side note: Bear in mind also that the DNC attempted to get two southern states into the early window for 2024 as well.]
  2. As a counterpoint, however, look at the 2028 presidential primary calendar and consider the southern states that have applied for early state status...
    • North Carolina? Super Tuesday.
    • Tennessee? Super Tuesday.
    • Virginia? Super Tuesday.
    • Georgia? Regardless of the partisan affiliation of the next Secretary of State in the Peach state, they can easily -- and without penalty from either party -- set a Super Tuesday date for the Georgia primary. 
    • And hey, throw in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas? All Super Tuesday primaries.
There is an argument that the calendar is already frontloaded with southern states, a remnant of Republican efforts across the region to create an "SEC primary" ahead of 2016. The only thing that separates those states above from the early window on the 2028 calendar is at most a week and possibly even just a weekend before Super Tuesday. That does not preclude the RBC from granting early state waivers to two southern states, but such a move may or may not be superfluous,given how southern-tinged the front of the calendar already is. 


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"5 Southern Democratic chairs say South Carolina should lead off 2028 presidential primary calendar"


"Democratic leaders in a handful of southern states are lobbying for South Carolina to reprise its role as the party’s first-in-the-nation state to cast primary ballots in 2028, arguing that the state best represents the initial playing field for presidential candidates to build the coalitions needed to win.

"The state party chairs of five Democratic parties wrote a letter Thursday to the Democratic National Committee calling on party leaders 'to do everything in your power to ensure South Carolina continues to serve as the indispensable first proving ground for Democratic presidential nominees.' The DNC is currently debating the order in which states will vote in the next round of presidential primaries.

"The state should hold the first presidential balloting in 2028, they argued, in part because it 'is not simply a geographic starting point. It is a moral and political compass for our party and our nation.'”

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“'The fight for voting rights is no longer just a courtroom battle, it is an electoral one,' the Democratic chairs from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia wrote in the letter, provided to The Associated Press ahead of its release. 'And it begins in South Carolina.'”


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Noteworthy: There are five states from the south, including South Carolina, that have applied with the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) to hold early contests in 2028. The Democrat chairs in all of the other southern states, save Florida and Texas, back the Palmetto state's bid to go not only early but first. It is an endorsement that will likely carry some weight with the members of the RBC, coming from fellow DNC members. 

Now, it may not ultimately prove decisive in this selection process, but this is an endorsement that will not hurt South Carolina Democrats' case for an early slot in 2028. 

And it is worth noting that this sort of endorsement from fellow regional allies is unique so far to the presentation stage of the selection process. No other applicant states have brought forth anything similar in their pitches to the panel.


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Filibuster threat was the undoing of Missouri presidential primary bill

There is one last footnote to the latest failed attempt in Jefferson City to restore the Missouri presidential primary. From Rep. Rudy Veit (R-59th, Wardsville), summing up his work during the 2026 session of the General Assembly to constituents in the local paper:
Unfortunately, my presidential primary bill failed during the final week of session after one senator announced plans to extend floor debate or filibuster the measure, effectively ending any opportunity to move it forward before adjournment. The bill had broad bipartisan support among both Republican and Democratic party organizations and passed overwhelmingly in the House. To be quite honest, the bill has been routinely blocked by individuals who know that they stand to gain from having a closed primary. It seems to me that there is no reason to have a closed presidential primary except to reduce the number of people who are able to participate in the process, particularly people who work, have families, or other commitments. This especially deprives people like our military service members, firefighters, police officers, teachers, and other professionals who cannot easily take off work to go vote in a closed primary. If you see someone opposing an open presidential primary in Missouri, you can safely assume that they want nothing more than to increase their own power and clout at the cost of your ability to participate in our elections.

Ultimately, my position is simple: we should always strive to have a voting system that promotes citizen participation, and that any limitation on when you vote or who you vote for should be scrutinized to the highest degree. Unless limitations on voting are absolutely necessary, such as being able to identify yourself, they should not exist. I do not think this should be controversial in a democratic society.

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Noteworthy: The Missouri Senate has been where these efforts to revive the presidential primary have gone to die. That is, if they make it through the state House. A few bills have managed to navigate through the lower chamber -- and this session's moved the closest to full passage of any of the measures over the last four sessions -- but the Senate continues to be a backstop against the primary efforts. And leaving the primary open remains the final obstacle. The Veit/Banderman bill in 2026 ultimately addressed all of the other concerns that have been raised by opponents in recent years.




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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Tuesday, May 26, 2026

"Democrats to pitch new-look Iowa Caucuses in bid to go first once more"


"Iowa Democrats will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to pitch a streamlined caucus plan they hope will convince national party leaders that Iowa deserves another shot to be at the front of the presidential nominating calendar."

...

"Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart has argued repeatedly that the [DNC Rules and Bylaws] committee should reconsider Iowa as Democrats work to regain ground with rural, working-class voters who have fled the party in droves.

"'In order to do that, we've got to have a state like Iowa where any Democratic presidential candidate can compete, where it's affordable and where the candidates can look forward to getting up close and personal and really understanding the issues that will bring us back to an understanding of working class voters,' Hart told the Des Moines Register."


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Noteworthy: The devil, as always, is in the details.

More will obviously be revealed when the Iowa Democratic delegation makes its case before the RBC this week, but one thing is clear in Pfannenstiel's interview with Chair Hart: The old caucuses are gone. 

There would be no more physical gathering in groups at caucus sites, determining viability (15 percent support) and realigning among viable groups to begin the process of calculating state delegate equivalents for the next steps in the overall caucus/convention process. All of that is out, streamlined and replaced by paper ballots similar to those used in the Iowa Republican presidential caucus process but to be preceded by an absentee voting period in the lead up to the caucus meeting (a carry over from the 2024 Democratic process).

Part the RBC will likely enjoy seeing included: the streamlined process. Anything that appears miles simpler than the 2020 process will go a long way.

Part(s) the RBC may push back on: Not only having a party-run process lead off (or be early on) the 2028 presidential primary calendar, but having a heretofore untested new (albeit simplified) party-run process be a part of the early window. Of the 12 states applying for an early window waiver, only Iowa is proposing a party-run affair. The remaining 11 all have state-run presidential primary elections. 


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Monday, May 18, 2026

The close of the 2026 legislative session kills the latest attempt to restore Missouri's presidential primary

The 2026 session of the Missouri General Assembly adjourned on Friday, May 15. One bill that died in the process was HB 2387/2480, a measure that would have reestablished a state-funded presidential primary in the Show-Me state for the first time since the 2020 cycle.

The legislation passed the state House with broad bipartisan support and made it through the committee stage on the Senate side. However, in the waning days of the session in Jefferson City, the bill was never brought up on the floor of the upper chamber.  

And thus ended another chapter in the ongoing effort to restore the presidential primary election in Missouri.

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Noteworthy: Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. And since the Missouri presidential primary is neither of those, this bill getting further into the legislative process than any of the other measures attempting to restore the primary since the election was eliminated by an act of the General Assembly in 2022, it does not count for much. But the incremental progress across the 2023, 2024, 2025 and now 2026 sessions suggests that 1) there will be another push in 2027 and 2) there is just one more hurdle -- Senate passage -- left to clear in the legislature. 

But the Missouri Senate has proven to be particularly cumbersome obstacle over the last four sessions. That there is just one roadblock left to clear, then, does not speak to the level of resistance among majority Republicans in the upper chamber. And none of this, of course, says anything about how receptive the governor would be to the idea. Both, however, remain a story for 2027. 

[It is unlikely that there is enough urgency to bring the presidential primary up in any special session that may be convened in the interregnum before the 2027 session gavels in in Jefferson City.]  




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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Super Tuesday presidential primary bill clears committee hurdle in Missouri Senate

The reinstatement of Missouri's presidential primary inched one step closer to reality on Wednesday morning, May 6, 2026. The state Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee convened to consider HB 2387/2480 among other bills and unanimously voted (8-0) in favor of the measure with a "do pass" instruction for action on the Senate floor. 


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Noteworthy: This should be the last step at the committee stage on the Senate side, clearing the legislation for consideration by the full Missouri State Senate. It also marks the furthest a presidential primary restoration bill has advanced in the legislative process in Jefferson City since the preference election was eliminated as part of an omnibus elections bill during the 2022 session of the General Assembly.

Despite the $9 million price tag on the resumption of the presidential primary, the bill saw little resistance among the membership of Fiscal Oversight. There was no debate, just the regular parliamentary procedures to raise a bill and then pass it within the hearing. That was it.

The Missouri legislature is due to adjourn next week. 



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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Missouri Senate committee gives Super Tuesday presidential primary bill the thumbs up

The Missouri Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee convened on Monday, May 4, 2026 and entered executive session to take up and consider a number of bills, including HB 2387/2480. The measure in its amended form would reestablish a state-funded and -run presidential primary election in the Show-Me state, schedule the election for Super Tuesday and legally bind the delegates to the national convention based on the results of the preference vote. 

By a 5-1 vote, the legislation was then passed by the committee with a "do pass" recommendation. Three Republicans were joined by the panel's two Democrats in moving the bill along.


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Noteworthy: The bill will not move directly to the floor for consideration by the full Senate. Instead, it will first divert through the Senate Fiscal Oversight Committee. This may or may not be a formality, but the price tag associated with funding a newly reinstituted election -- estimated at $9 million -- has created snags with similar legislation that has worked its way through the General Assembly in recent sessions and it stands out as perhaps the biggest remaining hurdle for this session's version. 

The largest looming issue remaining is that time on the 2026 session is dwindling. The General Assembly is statutorily required to adjourn by May 15. A year ago, the 2025 session gaveled out with a House-passed elections bill (with presidential primary provision) similarly sitting in the queue in committee on the Senate side. 

Does HB 2387/2480 get bottled up in Fiscal Oversight? The handful of remaining legislative days will determine that. Importantly, four of the yes votes from the Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee also sit on the nine member Fiscal Oversight Committee.



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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Thursday, April 30, 2026

Rhode Island House passes Super Tuesday presidential primary bill

Without any debate, the Rhode Island House took up and unanimously passed H 7090 on Thursday, April 30. The 62-0 vote by the members of the lower chamber would shift the presidential primary in the Ocean state from the fourth Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday in March, Super Tuesday. 

The measure now advances to the state Senate where identical legislation has also been introduced and considered in committee.

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Noteworthy: A few things on this potential change in Rhode Island:
  1. As the committee chair who introduced the H 7090 on the floor noted before passage, a Super Tuesday primary would align Rhode Island with most of its New England area neighbors on the primary calendar. Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont are all already positioned on Super Tuesday. New Hampshire will continue to be an exception with an earlier primary and Connecticut has yet to make any move to join the others in March for 2028.
  2. Rhode Island has not been a part of Super Tuesday since 2004. The state was one of the rare few who did not move into February to join the Super Tuesday logjam in 2008 and then moved back into April alongside a number of neighbors for 2012. It has remained on the back half of the primary calendar ever since. [One could argue that Rhode Island was not on Super Tuesday in 2004. It was a cycle in which Democrats allowed February contests and while some states took advantage of the rule change, the biggest shift to the earlier point did not occur until 2008. The effect in 2004 was to make the early March Super Tuesday a bit less crowded -- a bit less super -- and the overall calendar less frontloaded than was the case in 2000. Still, the most delegates of the 2004 cycle were at stake on the first Tuesday in March.]
  3. Other chambers have passed presidential primary legislation across the country during this 2026 legislative session, but most have died along the way. Rhode Island actually shows some signs of momentum on this front. The list of legislative backers in both chambers in Providence means H 7090 will likely face a favorable audience in the upper chamber. And the unanimous vote in the House likely will not hamper that progress. 

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This action will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2026

"Missouri Senate committee debates plan to reinstate presidential primary for 2028"


"Missouri would join at least 14 other states with a 'Super Tuesday' presidential primary in 2028 under a bill that would also bind the state’s delegate on the first ballot at national political conventions.

"During testimony Monday to the state Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee, leaders of the state’s two largest political parties agreed that restoring the primary would increase participation and elevate the state’s national political profile.

“'In 2024 we received just a ton of complaints from probably every legislative district in the state because we only got about 23,000 people participating' in the caucuses that replaced the primary, said Miles Ross, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party.

"The Democratic Party held a private primary in 2024 with voting confined to a Saturday morning. Holding a state-run primary on the first day the two major parties will recognize as valid would attract candidates and money to the state, said Russ Carnahan, chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party.

“'We’d like Missouri to be relevant again,' Carnahan said.

"The committee did not vote on the bill. State Sen. Mike Henderson, a Republican from Desloge and chairman of the committee, said after the meeting that he was uncertain when, or if, he would bring the bill up for a vote."


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Noteworthy: Look, FHQ listened to this hearing live. To call it a debate is misleading. To call it a debate among the members of the committee is just plain wrong. In fact, the only commentary from the members of the Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee other the instructions from the chair was from a Republican senator asking a follow up of Miles Ross, the state GOP executive director. And that certainly did not spur a lively back and forth.

To the extent there was a "debate," it was among the folks testifying for and against the measure to restore the state-run presidential primary in the Show-Me state. And that functioned more as a Cliff's Notes version of the discussions on the House side in committee. Monday's hearing was as close to a non-event as it could get. 

But there are a few things to take from this latest hearing for HB 2387/2480:
  1. The Senate finally acted on the bill, more than two weeks after the House passed it.
  2. Importantly, the chair of the committee was noncommittal about ever bringing up the legislation for a vote (to clear it for consideration on the floor). 
  3. There is little more than two weeks left in the 2026 session of the Missouri General Assembly. The last day is slated for May 15. 
Relatedly, this is not the only presidential primary bill to make its way out of the House only to be stymied in the state Senate. A provision to restore the primary was part of a mini-bus elections bill in 2025 that was in the queue in committee on the Senate side on the final day of the session, but was not acted upon.

This latest version, which addresses many of the problems that have derailed past efforts (binding of delegates, etc.), may meet the same fate in Jefferson City. 



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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Thursday, April 9, 2026

Missouri House passes Super Tuesday presidential primary bill

During the morning session of Thursday, April 9, the Missouri House took up for a third reading and passed HB 2387/2480 by a vote of 116-23.1 The measure would reestablish a state-run presidential primary in the Show-Me state, schedule the election for the first Tuesday in March (Super Tuesday) and proportionally bind the delegates from the state to the national convention based on the results of the preference vote. 

The legislation now moves on to the state Senate where the upper chamber will have a little more than a month to consider it before the General Assembly adjourns on May 15.


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Noteworthy: In some ways this is déjà vu all over again in Jefferson City. The House passed legislation to restore the presidential primary in 2025 only to see the bill die in committee on the Senate side at adjournment. 

The 2026 version may yet meet the same fate. But 2026 is different for a couple reasons. First, the legislation from previous sessions in 2023, 2024 and 2025 offered different paths to resolution and/or were part of broader elections bills encompassing factors outside of the presidential primary as well. If that combination did not slow things down in the House first, it weighed heavily on the Senate's consideration, typically late into the session.

Second, while the progress on HB 2387/2480 was perhaps slow through committee process, reinstituting the presidential primary was not controversial on the floor during either the amendment phase or later upon passage. That maybe has something to do with the newly added language binding the delegates, a sticking point in consideration of past iterations of this legislation. But the measure being focused on the presidential primary and the presidential primary alone may also have contributed to the general lack of controversy. 

Together, that may or may not pay dividends as the bill shifts over to the Senate. But the path has been different this time in the House, it also has buy in from both state parties and the binding language checks out with the national parties. It is likely the best bet to restore the primary in Missouri since omnibus elections legislation eliminated the election in 2022. 

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1Of the votes in opposition, 22 of the 23 were Republicans, roughly a fifth of the current Republican majority in the lower chamber. 


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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Idaho's 2026 legislative session draws to a close, killing bids to restore presidential primary

Last week, after missing the target date for adjournment at the end of March and running into overtime, the Idaho legislature gaveled out its 2026 session. Among the bills left in committee in those final days were the three measures that sought to restore the state-funded presidential primary election to the Gem state. 

Two of the three -- H 638 and S 1398 -- not only made it out of committee but passed their respective chambers. There was interest in reestablishing the presidential primary, but there was no urgency this far out to bring that to fruition. Nor was there an ability -- again, this far out -- to resolve the impasse between the two chambers' versions of the legislation, the same impasse the derailed the efforts to restore the presidential primary accidentally eliminated in 2023. 

Now that both versions are dead again in 2026, it is not bills that one should focus on should a similar push be mounted in 2027, but on this impasse itself. If Idaho is to have a presidential primary again, a decision will have to be made as to whether it will exist as a standalone election earlier in the presidential primary calendar -- Super Tuesday has been targeted -- or as a preference election consolidated with the primaries for other offices sometime in May. 


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Noteworthy: The Idaho Republican Party and the state House seem to prefer the Super Tuesday option while the Senate has seemingly prioritized the cost savings associated with a consolidated primary. Neither side prefers the much lower turnout in alternative caucuses. That is the primary reason the secretary of state has supported the reinstitution of the state-run primary. To this point, however, Secretary McGrane has not supported one version of presidential primary legislation over the other. Whether McGrane comes off the fence in 2027 to support one version may or may not play some role in breaking the stalemate. 


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See also:


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This action has been added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.


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Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Missouri House clears Super Tuesday presidential primary bill for final passage

The Missouri House on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 took up HB 2387/2480 for perfection (amendment) and after amending the title passed the measure on a voice vote, clearing it for a final vote by the body. 

The legislation would not only restore the presidential primary eliminated in 2022, but schedule the state-funded election to take place on Super Tuesday -- the first Tuesday in March -- and bind the delegates to the national convention based on the results. The latter has been a sticking point for detractors during consideration of similar legislation stretching back to 2023.

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Noteworthy: While some initial Republican opponents on the Election Committee spoke in favor of the legislation on the House floor, that may or may not carry weight with the remainder of the chamber on the future vote on passage. These presidential primary bills have passed the Missouri House in the past only to be stymied once they got to the state Senate. The battle, then, may be less intra-chamber than inter-chamber as the 2026 session in Jefferson City draws to a close. 



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"Rhode Island primary election day could change in 2026 and 2028. Here's why."


"Should Rhode Island move the date of its presidential primary again?

"Given how many people at the State House are lining up behind this latest effort to make Lil' Rhody more relevant in the presidential sweepstakes, it's a good bet Rhode Island will join the states that vote on 'Super Tuesday' in 2028.

"Who is supporting the move? The House speaker, the past and present state Democratic Party chairs and, in a rare display of agreement on a matter of Rhode Island politics, the chairman of the state Republican Party.

"There are a few naysayers. But the bill, H7090, came flying out of the House Committee on State Government & Elections on a 12-to-0 vote on March 31 and is headed for a full House debate and vote as soon as this week."


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Noteworthy: A few things here:
  1. In a year when most presidential primary bills -- the ones to changes the dates of the contests anyway -- are withering on the vine, there does actually seem to be some momentum behind the push in Providence. As noted above, the House version has a number of notable folks in and out of the lower chamber lined up behind it. But that is also true of the identical companion bill in the state Senate. Leadership there is also in favor of the primary date change.
  2. Gregg's article goes on to discuss arguments for and against moving the Rhode Island primary. Proponents of the move to an earlier position point to the oft-raised notion of increased attention -- candidate visits to the state! -- and turnout that a later primary just did not deliver. Alternatively, as Providence College political scientist Adam Myers suggested: "If anything, we might become even more overshadowed [on Super Tuesday] in the process than we have been in recent cycles." True!
  3. Rhode Island is damed if they do, damned if they don't. The state is simply too small -- not delegate-rich enough -- to stand much chance of garnering any direct attention no matter where the primary is scheduled. The one thing that a move to Super Tuesday would ensure for 2028 is that voters in the Ocean state would be able to weigh in on who the nominees are before the races are likely settled.
  4. Gregg also notes that turnout was just 5 percent in the April 2024 presidential primary when Rhode Island followed contests in 26 other states. The point of comparison? 2008, when there was record turnout in the early March primary. ...you know, when the Rhode Island primary came after primaries and caucuses in 40 other states. Of course the timing of a primary matters. But competition can matter more to turnout. A move to Super Tuesday for 2028 makes it more likely that there is some remaining [viable] competition for one or both nomination races. 

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Related:


This legislation will be added to the annotated 2028 presidential primary calendar over at our sister site, FHQ Plus.

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