Political Wire: Florida Expected to Move Primary to January (the 31st, Florida House Speaker says)

[flpoljunkie]

Florida Expected to Move Primary to January

Florida "is expected to move its presidential primary to the last day in January 2012, a move likely to throw the carefully arranged Republican nominating calendar into disarray and jumpstart the nominating process a month earlier than party leaders had hoped," CNN reports.

"If that happens, it would almost certainly force the traditional early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada to leapfrog Florida and move their primaries and caucuses into early- to mid-January."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/09/28/florida_expected_to_move_primary_to_january.html

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Cannon: Jan. 31 primary likely

House Speaker Dean Cannon tells Buzz that Florida's Republican presidential primary will likely be Jan. 31. He's conferred with the governor's office and senate president's office, and that date will likely be set Friday.

"We believe that meets of goals of ensuring that Florida comes fifth and that we have our own, separate date," Cannon said.

That should ensure the nominating calendar closely mirrors last cycles, when the nominating contests kick off in Iowa shortly after the new year.

-- Adam C. Smith.

Posted by Alex Leary