State lawmakers agree: Make CT’s presidential primary earlier

While it may not be uncommon for both political parties to find temporary moments of agreement in Hartford, it’s unusual to see the state’s Republican and Democratic brass at the state Capitol in harmony on one issue.

Such a moment occurred Monday, as Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo sat alongside her GOP counterpart, Ben Proto, to advocate for a bill to move the state’s presidential primary contest from the last Tuesday in April to the first.

The move would place Connecticut slightly higher in the middle of the next year’s presidential primary schedule, joining Wisconsin on April 2. The bill would not affect the timing of primaries for other state and federal offices, which are typically held in August.

With a date in early April, Connecticut could leapfrog the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island on the nominating calendar. Each state still has several months to try to move its position on the primary schedule, and many have proposed doing so.

Proto and DiNardo told lawmakers on Monday that Connecticut has missed opportunities for candidates to spend time and money courting the state’s voters, because by the time the primaries roll around the nominations are often all but decided.

At the same time, they said that moving too far up in the schedule could prompt a backlash from either national party, which fiercely guards the initial slate of primaries and caucuses.

“Presidential primary season traditionally focuses an enormous amount of attention on a handful of states in January and February,” DiNardo said. “For too many presidential elections, Connecticut voters have been short-changed by being scheduled on the last Tuesday of April.”

Proto, whose party is gearing up for a hotly contested nominating process in hopes of winning the White House, added economic benefits are associated with having a more competitive primary that draws interest from several candidates.

“We know that when candidates come to a state they spend a lot of money, not only on their media buys, but also within our hospitality industry, on salaries, on staff,” Proto said. “So there’s a tangential benefit to doing this, to making us a competitive state that candidates want to come to.”

Last year, DiNardo led a campaign for Connecticut to be selected for a highly coveted spot in the top four states on the 2024 primary calendar, after the party chose to shake up the schedule in response to criticisms that the the traditional firstin-the-nation states of Iowa and New Hampshire were not representative of the diversity of the rest of the United States.

Instead the party — led by the suggestions of President Joe Biden — selected South Carolina to go first on Feb. 3, followed over the next several weeks by New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan.

The co-chairman of the legislative committee that heard testimony over the primary proposal Monday, state Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D- Stamford, offered a “layup” for both party leaders, asking them to make a pitch to why each national party should consider Connecticut for early primary status in the future.

DiNardo said the state’s demographic diversity is “representative of the country,” while Proto added it also enjoys “political diversity” and a strategic position between New York and Boston, which would offer candidates an early foray into larger media markets.

Both party leaders on Monday spoke in favor of another bill that would increase fundraising limitations on each party’s state central committee.