Bysiewicz, Lawmakers Call For Earlier Presidential Primary

By Susan Haigh

Associated Press

HARTFORD — Connecticut’s top election official and state lawmakers are backing legislation that would move up next year’s presidential primaries from March to February, joining 22 other states on so-called “super duper Tuesday.”

Proponents said they’re concerned that the candidates will be chosen by the time Connecticut voters go to the polls on March 4, 2008.

“We are doing this because we believe Connecticut voters deserve to have their voices heard,” said Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, a Democrat.

Bysiewicz said US Sen Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, also supports moving up the primary date. The home states of several other presidential contenders, including New York and Illinois, are also moving up their primaries to February 5, 2008.

While state officials said they don’t like how states are battling to play an earlier and bigger role in the presidential primary process and choosing earlier dates on the primary calendar, they said Connecticut must join in.

“Connecticut didn’t start this tidal wave, but we’re going to ride it, for now,” Bysiewicz said.

Several organizations have proposed reforms to the nation’s primary process.

Lawmakers were scheduled to conduct a hearing March 30 on the proposed change to Connecticut’s primary.

State Senator Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, co-chairman of the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, said the bill has bipartisan support. She said Connecticut risks being overlooked it if keeps the March 4 date.

“We are now in the mix of the candidates,” Slossberg said of the February 5 date. “What we hope to do is bring those candidates into the state of Connecticut, to make Connecticut voters relevant to the whole discussion.”

In 1995, Connecticut moved its primary to coincide with primaries in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont. Proponents hoped that more candidates would visit if the northeastern states were lumped together. But Bysiewicz acknowledged that not as many candidates as hoped campaigned in the state.

In 2008, more than 60 Democratic and about 20 Republican delegates are expected to be up for grabs, according to party officials, far fewer than in the big states where candidates typically concentrate their efforts.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy said he hopes that moving up Connecticut’s primary will force presidential candidates to treat the state as more than a fundraising opportunity.

Connecticut residents again had the highest per capita incomes in the country last year, according to statistics released Tuesday by the federal government.

“Connecticut is often seen as the ATM for both the Republican and Democratic parties,” Healy said. “We love giving them our money, but we’d like to give them our thoughts and our ideas and debate the issues.”