Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has until this Saturday to decide whether or not she will move the state’s primary to January 31st. Such a move would cost the state half of their delegates to the party’s 2012 national convention and significantly alter the Republican primary schedule.
Under current law, Arizona is scheduled to hold their primary on February 28th, which is still a technical violation of the Republican National Committee’s rules. But many expect the RNC to look the other way if Arizona keeps that date since it would not significantly alter the party’s desired Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina early primary schedule.
Brewer can change the date of the state’s primary by proclamation, but she must do so at least 150 days before the new date. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, this Saturday is the deadline for a January 31st switch.
If Brewer did elect to move up her state’s primary, Arizona would still not be the first contest in the nation. By existing state law, Iowa would move to December 5th, New Hampshire would move to December 15th and Nevada and South Carolina would hold their contests on December 17th.
Arizona is not the only state threatening to up end the RNC’s desired pre-Super Tuesday lineup. Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, and Wisconsin all have contests scheduled before February 28th. Like Arizona, they all face losing half their delegates should they keep their pre-March 6th dates. Michigan also has a primary scheduled February 28th, and, like Arizona, they are not expected to be punished if they keep that date. Florida currently has no date scheduled for their primary.
If Arizona keeps their February date, not counting the other pre-28th states, the Republican primary schedule would look like this:
February 6th: Iowa
February 14th: New Hampshire
February 18th: Nevada
February 28th: South Carolina, Arizona, Michigan
March 6th: Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming
