Rhode Island legislation eyeing Super Tuesday presidential primary

Legislation introduced in Providence in January would shift the presidential primary in the Ocean state up to Super Tuesday in 2028 and beyond. 

Current state law provides for a state-run presidential primary in Rhode Island to be conducted on the fourth Tuesday in April. The primary has begun every cycle since 2012 in that position on the calendar, often aligned with primaries in neighboring states across the northeast and mid-Atlantic. But the last two cycles have seen temporary changes to the contest's statutory late April date. The Covid pandemic forced a delay in 2020 and the primary was pushed up to the first Tuesday in April but only for the 2024 cycle. The date reverted to the end of April thereafter. 

And that is what H 7090, sponsored by Rhode Island Rep. Joseph McNamara (D-19th, Warwick & Cranston), seeks to change starting in 2028. The Rhode Island Democratic Party supports the move to Super Tuesday, citing alignment with primaries in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont on the same date. Deputy Secretary of State Rob Rock spoke in favor of the change in a committee hearing as did elections administrators in Newport, who filed written support.

H 7090 was heard before the Rhode Island House State Government and Elections Committee on February 5. It, along with the other bills considered in the hearing, were held for further study. That does not kill or necessarily table any change. Rather, the committee voted before consideration of the items on their agenda not to vote on any bills before it that day. 

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Noteworthy: While a move to the first Tuesday in March would align the Rhode Island presidential primary with those in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont, the Ocean state may not be the only one from the former northeastern/mid-Atlantic primary of the recent past to consider a move to Super Tuesday. There is active legislation in New York to make a similar move and Delaware was said at the recent DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee to have a Super Tuesday primary date as well. It does not, but that may be an indication of intent in the First state if Delaware is not granted an even earlier position in the early window by the DNC for 2028. Other states in the area may follow.

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"KS GOP, Democratic leaders agree on state-run [presidential] primary"

Melissa Brunner at WIBW (Topeka) on a bill before the Kansas House Committee on Elections:

"The chairs of the state’s Democratic and Republican parties say they agree that the state’s presidential preference primaries should be state-run.

"The House Elections Committee held a hearing Tuesday afternoon on a bill that would make a test-run in March 2024 a permanent policy.

"Before that, the parities each held their own statewide caucuses or primaries to decide the preferred candidate for their delegates.

"GOP chair Danedri Herbert and Democratic chair Jeanna Repass both say state-run primaries will ensure Kansans have their voices heard."

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Noteworthy: HB 2447 would reinstate a state-run presidential primary in the Sunflower state and permanently schedule the election for the first Tuesday in March every four years. 

Kansas legislators passed legislation in 2023 to reestablish a state-run presidential primary in the state, but it was a one-off, applying only to the 2024 cycle. As I wrote over at FHQ Plus around the time a number of bills were making the rounds in the statehouse...

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.

The current bill was brought forth on the request of the Kansas Republican Party Chair Danedri Herbert, is sponsored by the House Committee on Elections and has the support of both major parties in the state.

Missouri bill prefiled to reinstate presidential primary

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 

Missouri state Senator David Gregory (R-15th, St. Louis) has prefiled legislation -- SB 1139 -- in the upper chamber to reestablish the presidential primary election in the Show-Me state. The bill is exactly the same as the legislation the senator filed in February 2025 to bring back the primary that was eliminated by an act of the legislature in 2022. 

Here is an edited FHQ summary of the early 2025 legislation:

[L]egislation has also been introduced in the Missouri state Senate to bring back the state-funded presidential preference election eliminated by the General Assembly in 2022. SB 670, introduced by Senator David Gregory (R-15th, St. Louis), would basically reset conditions to where they were with respect to the parameters of the presidential primary prior to 2022. That is to say that the primary election would revert to a position on the presidential primary calendar following Super Tuesday. 

However, Gregory's SB 670 would schedule the presidential preference election for the second Tuesday in March as opposed to the second Tuesday after the first Monday in March as was the case prior to 2022. 

That is a small difference and would not have any impact on the positioning of any Missouri presidential primary reinstated under this bill for 2028. 

Efforts to reestablish the primary prior this latest bill have fallen short since 2022, often victims of the logistics of scheduling the presidential primary either concurrent with or in addition to primaries for other offices. Several possible proposed dates have emerged because of that: Super Tuesday, the week after Super Tuesday or the first Tuesday in April (alongside local primaries). None of them have passed muster with a majority of both the Missouri House and Senate. 

Perhaps 2026 will be the year.

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The 2028 Presidential Primary Calendar Plus 

Tracking the evolution of the timeline of delegate selection events that will determine the next presidential nominees

"New York lawmakers aim to move 2028 primaries up to Super Tuesday"

Edward-Isaac Dovere at CNN has the latest 2028 calendar news from Albany:

"James Skoufis, a New York state senator who previously ran for Democratic National Committee chair, told CNN he will introduce a bill Thursday to move the Empire State’s 2028 presidential primary to Super Tuesday, traditionally the first time a large batch of states votes on the same day and often the day that presidential front-runners separate themselves from the also-rans.

"Skoufis has already lined up what he believes will grow into enough support to pass. His proposal has the potential to reshape the next White House race for Democrats, who would need to put together larger-scale campaigns early, given the size and diversity of New York’s electorate and the expense of the state’s media markets."

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Noteworthy: The New York primary was a Super Tuesday regular from 2000-2008, even moving up to the at-the-time new February Super Tuesday for 2008. When both parties restricted February primaries for 2012, New York legislators moved to the current protocol they have used in every cycle since. Basically that has entailed leaving the primary in February until June-ish of the year prior to a presidential election at which time the legislature (in coordination with both state parties) sets the date and the delegate allocation rules for the cycle. The date of the primary then reverts to February at the end of the presidential election year and the process starts all over again. 

Skoufis' proposed legislation would break from that established post-2008 protocol. 

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More at FHQ Plus (subscription)...

New York? On Super Tuesday?

It has happened before and history may repeat itself in 2028. What are the implications?