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Idaho Republicans Want Earlier Presidential Primary In 2016

The Idaho House is set to vote Monday on a bill that would move Idaho’s presidential primary from May to March.

In early 2012, all eyes were on the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates. And Idaho’s Republican Party didn’t want to wait until the state-run election in May to let party members weigh in. So Republican voters lined up in school gyms across the state for a party caucus.

And it was messy.

It didn't help that Idaho has two time zones. People started to leave the northern caucuses once they heard voters in Mountain Time had already chosen Mitt Romney.

“It was decided before they ever really got their voting done,” Idaho state Sen. Chuck Winder said.

He wants to move the state’s presidential primaries up and let them replace party caucuses. It could cost Idaho taxpayers between $1 and $2 million. Some say the money could be better used elsewhere.

Idaho Democratic lawmakers -- and some Republicans -- object to the price tag, saying the cost to move the primary is too high, especially because Idaho’s Republican primary is now closed to all but registered Republicans.

Proponents say moving the election would give Idaho more sway over the national race and they say a state-run election is more inclusive than the party caucuses. Voting absentee is not an option in caucuses, which take place at a specific day and time. Republican lawmakers backing the measure say that excludes members of the military and elderly voters.

The Idaho Republican caucus in 2012 was the first time most Idaho Republicans had participated in a caucus. It succeeded in drawing all the major Republican presidential candidates to Idaho for campaign stops.

The Democratic Party had previously held statewide caucuses in the 2008 presidential election.

The Senate has already approved the measure. If it passes the Idaho House, the bill moves to the governor’s desk.

Archive photo of Idaho Republicans 2012 presidential caucusing in Kootenai County.
Jessica Robinson / Northwest News Network
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Northwest News Network
Archive photo of Idaho Republicans 2012 presidential caucusing in Kootenai County.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Jessica Robinson
Jessica Robinson reported for four years from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho as the network's Inland Northwest Correspondent. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covered the economic, demographic and environmental trends that have shaped places east of the Cascades. Jessica left the Northwest News Network in 2015 for a move to Norway.