Caucus Date Leapfrog Update: Competing Michigan Bills

Caucus Date Leapfrog Update: Competing Michigan Bills

Pending legislation in Michigan, historically the state most strongly opposed to Iowa's first in the nation status, would give the parties flexibility to bump up the state's primary date.

Ballot Access News reports the state senate Campaigns and Elections Committee has OK'd two competing bills. One bill schedules Michigan's primaries for Feb. 5, the "Mega Tuesday" date of the de facto national primary. The other bill calls for a Jan. 29 date -- in violation of the Democratic National Committee's schedule, which has reserved Jan. 29 for South Carolina alone.

Florida has already leapfrogged to Jan. 29, and pending Ohio legislation would also set a Jan. 29 date. States violating the DNC calendar may be stripped of half their national convention delegates. But in Florida, at least, lawmakers determined that the increased role in the process an earlier date provides will more than offset the loss in largely symbolic delegates.