California should not rush into an early presidential primary
Senate Bill 568 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D- Bell Gardens, which would move California's primaries to March, should be put on hold. California had early presidential primaries 1996 through 2008. The Legislature realized the election season was too long, so in 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill moving our primaries back to June.
Now the Legislature is lobbying to move our primaries back to March, implying, I guess, that the 2011 legislators were morons. One issue with the change involves the top-two primary system.
Candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party can list that endorsement in county sample ballots. If SB 568 was already the law, our next primary would be March 6, 2018, and our convention would be Nov. 17, 2017. Our local endorsing caucuses would be the weekend of Oct. 20. That’s right, next month.
Having a March primary would give both candidates months to bash each other, and force the Democratic Party to hold two conventions in odd years, which would be a calendar nightmare. The Legislature should put the brakes on SB 568 and consult with the Democratic Party's 3,300 delegates and congressional Democrats.
Bob Mulholland, delegate to 11 Democratic National Conventions, Chico
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This story was originally published September 11, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California should not rush into an early presidential primary."