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Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill called the “Prime Time Primary Act” to move California’s primary elections in 2020 to the beginning of March instead of June in an effort to influence the next presidential election, reports NPR.
“The Prime Time Primary Act moves the statewide primary to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March for presidential and non-presidential election years,” reads a statement issued by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on the bill. “The California primary has traditionally been held in June, at the tail end of the presidential primary schedule. The late timing dilutes California’s impact and influence in the Presidential Primary nomination process. Last year only the District of Columbia held a primary election after California.
“California voters have a unique stake in shaping the national discourse and the selection of presidential nominees,” Padilla’s office writes. “19.4 million Californians are registered to vote, far exceeding every other state in the nation.”
By California's presidential primary election in June 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were already their parties’ presumptive nominees.
The bill gives Californians a better chance at influencing the nomination process, joining other states on what’s called “Super Tuesday” when several states vote simultaneously in their primary elections.
California Secretary of State Padilla in his office’s statement said that presidential candidates will no longer “be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation.”
“The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process,” Padilla said. “California’s primary will officially be in prime time."
“Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country's highest office,” he continued. "California has been a leader time and time again on the most important issues facing our country—including immigration, education, and the environment. The Prime Time Primary Act will help ensure that issues important to Californians are prioritized by presidential candidates from all political parties."
Author of the bill, State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D), said that Californians will now be “in the front seat in choosing our next president” and that it is their “responsibility to drive a different agenda at the national level and promote inclusion and consensus not the politics of division.”
Many Democratic leaders in California have made it known their opposition to many of President Trump’s policies, most especially his actions on immigration.
The state’s lawmakers passed a bill earlier this month to make California a “sanctuary state,” now on Gov. Brown’s desk waiting to be signed.
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