Florida moves up GOP primary date causing four States to make changes

Florida has chosen to move its Primary date to January 31, 2012, which means that the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 6, the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 14, the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 18, and the South Carolina primary on Feb. 28 will all be looking to change their dates.

By moving the date, Florida will sacrifice half of it primary delegates at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fl.,  August 27-30, 2012.

Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina are the only four states allowed to vote before March 6, 2012 under Republican National Committee (RNC) rules, and they have collectively vowed to move the dates of their caucuses and primaries ahead of Florida to protect the early voting status. Which means it is possible that we could see the Iowa caucus in December 2011, possibly between Christmas and New Years.

Besides losing 50 percent of their delegates at the convention, RNC members are also mulling stiffer penalties for rule-breaking states, like banishing those delegations to far away hotels in the Tampa area and giving their delegations the worst seats inside the convention hall.

Florida’s move will also cause the republican candidates that are currently running to reschedule their fundraisers and campaign visits to the early caucus and primary States.  And it will cause any potential new candidates such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or Fox “News” contributor Sarah Palin to decide whether or not to get into the race in the next few days.

Amy Tarkanian, Chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, release a statement regarding Florida's decision to move the date of its primary.

"Florida's decision to move its primary is disappointing and, frankly, disrespectful of the other early primary states and the process as a whole.  Because the date of Nevada's caucus is, by rule, four days after New Hampshire's, we will move Nevada's First in the West caucus if the New Hampshire GOP moves theirs.  No matter what, we will not allow this disruption to interfere with our goal of creating a Presidential caucus that will be the pride of the western states.  This situation gives Nevadans the opportunity to showcase our ability to adapt and establish our state as a major player in national politics."

The four States that were ahead of Florida will work together with the RNC to pick news dates for their States.



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