Connecticut’s neighbor, New York, has moved its 2012 presidential primary to April 24, 2012, joining Connecticut and setting up a regional primary with Pennsylvania and Delaware.
“This is good news for Connecticut voters,” said Secretary of the State Denise Merrill. “New York and Pennsylvania are big states. Their sharing our primary date will increase the importance of that day on the election calendar and, most importantly, greatly improve the chances that candidates will put Connecticut on their campaign schedules.”
She added, “After all, campaigns are about ideas and people. The more direct exposure Connecticut primary voters can get to presidential candidates during this critical time in our nation’s history, the better.”
During the recently adjourned regular session, the General Assembly moved Connecticut’s presidential primary from the first Tuesday in February to the last Tuesday in April in response to recent rules changes adopted by the national Democratic and Republican parties. Secretary Merrill supported the move. The changes are designed to roll back recent front-loading of the presidential primary calendar that resulted in primaries and caucuses taking place in early January. Under the new rules, only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada can hold their primaries or caucuses before March 1 (and not before February 1). The parties enacted incentives to encourage the state parties to hold their primaries later in the year.
