Mississippi Senate Bill to Bump Presidential Primary Up Moves Forward

The Rules Committee in the Mississippi state Senate has given the green light to SB 2531. The legislation would move the presidential primary in the Magnolia state up a week to March 1, the target date of the proposed SEC primary in 2016.

The Senate committee, like its House counterpart last week, passed off on the bill, recommending it as "Do Pass".

With a short legislative session -- due to expire in early April -- these two pieces of legislation seem to be on something of a fast track through the legislature. Then again, as FHQ has pointed out, there are indications that there is some consensus behind the move up to March 1.

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UPDATE (2/6/15):
The Rules Committee actually passed a substitute bill to the one introduced. The change is minor but significant for 2020. The introduced legislation calls for the move to the first Tuesday in March to become effective on July 1, 2015. And though there seems to be a typo, the committee substitute adds a sunset provision; that the date change will expire on June 30, 2016. [Yes, it says June 30, 2015, but that could not be right. The change would be repealed before it took effect.] That would mean that after a supposed first Tuesday in March primary in 2016, that the Mississippi primary would revert to the second Tuesday in March date in the next subsequent cycle.

...unless another change is made.

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Update (2/11/15): House and Senate bills pass
Update (3/3/15): House bill dies in committee, Senate bill passes committee
UPDATE (3/11/15): Amended Senate bill passes state House


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