(Via Election Law Blog) It appears that a Congresscritter has proposed a regional primary scheme involving six waves:
- 2nd Tuesday in March
- 1st Tuesday in April
- 4th Tuesday in April
- 2nd Tuesday in May
- 4th Tuesday in May
- 2nd Tuesday in June
..with a superficially complex scheme of regions and subregions allocating the states, ensuring that each major part of the country would have a some representation in each wave of the primary season.
It’s nice that the subject is attracting attention in Washington. However, I’d be concerned that it does nothing about the phenomenon of some states late in the primary season being irrelevant, if a candidate has been identified early in the cycle.
Also, a lack of recognition of the traditional front-of-the-line treatment given to Iowa and Vermont would seem to make this proposal politically difficult to swallow.
I’ll point to an idea I drafted a few weeks ago: four primary waves, occurring in February, March, April, and May - the first three each covering roughly one-sixth of the country, and the fourth wave being a mega-primary for about half the country. I’d do regional waves, to attempt to make the primary process a little more efficient, end perhaps not so biased against lesser-funded candidates, at least long enough for them to have an opportunity to make a mark. And, in theory at least, every state’s primary would matter, since half of the states would be voting in the last wave.