• Home
• Voting & Democracy
  • Go Vote
  • N.C. Voter Guide
  • VoterRadio.com
• Research & Publications
  • Follow the Money
  • NCCVE Research
• Multimedia
  • The Voter Update Podcast
• For the Media
  • News Releases
  • Media Advisories
  • Contact NCCVE
• About Us
  • Board of Directors
  • Staff
  • Contribute to NCCVE
  • Contact Us
• Search

Mar. 19, 2007

A Late Presidential Primary Means N.C. Left Out

By Chris Heagarty

RALEIGH - What if Arkansas’ Mike Huckabee, former governor of a rural but rapidly developing southern state, was the best presidential candidate to represent North Carolina?

What if U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, with his extensive foreign relations credentials, had a plan for the war in Iraq that North Carolinians agreed was reasoned and responsible?

Who?

Most North Carolinians may never hear about many of the men and women running for our highest office, let alone have an opportunity to cast a meaningful vote for one of them.

Right now, dozens of candidates spend weeks just across the border in South Carolina walking neighborhoods and listening to people they meet on the street. Right now in North Carolina, the only way you’ll see these candidates is if you have the money to pony up for a big-dollar fundraiser for them. Or maybe if you work at the airport, you might catch a glimpse as they jet off to states that “matter.”

North Carolina holds its presidential primary on May 6. By the time we get a chance to vote, the majority of other states have already cast their ballot, and the whirlwind process of winning delegates from each state in order to become each party’s nominated candidate has already determined a winner.

Almost all other states hold a presidential primary election or caucus before the end of March. Only Nebraska, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and South Dakota hold their elections after North Carolina. Even the sparsely populated states of Idaho and Wyoming that vote for state offices after May 6 were smart enough to move their presidential primary to earlier in the year, when their opinion might mean something.

Before we get a chance to vote, many qualified candidates abandon their campaigns because the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina didn’t care for them. Basically, other states around the country select the two nominees to run for president while we get left with the products of their wisdom.

Many voters in these early primary states will have a real opportunity to meet a future president and to tell him or her what they think. Most voters in our state never will. North Carolina also loses out in setting the national agenda. The next president may be selected, in large part, due to his or her positions on ethanol subsidies for large corn farming conglomerates. Meanwhile, North Carolina’s issues get lost in the shuffle.

There is a bill in the North Carolina legislature introduced by Sen. Andrew Brock (R-Davie) to move our state’s presidential primary from May to February, shortly after South Carolina’s and about the same time as many other large states. Brock’s arguments extend beyond just giving North Carolina a voice in national elections. His research also shows a very significant economic benefit from the early primary.

In 2000, the state of New Hampshire generated a net gain of over $264 million from its early primary. Estimates from Iowa, where party caucuses are held, suggested a positive impact of over $60 million. Anyone who has watched the “Road to the White House” news coverage has seen the armies of consumers -- I mean, volunteers, campaign staff and reporters -- that show up early and stay until the last ballot is counted.

Yet some lawmakers balk, finding bogus excuses about cost or competition with other early primary states. But isn’t that competition better than our current situation, where we get no attention at all because the nominees have already been chosen?

Valerie Biden Owens, national chairwoman of the Biden campaign, recently reflected on all of the barbecues and neighborhood meetings Sen. Biden was attending in South Carolina, saying, "As most everyone acknowledges, the Democratic nominee will likely be decided by the four early voting states."

It is an undeniable fact that when all the states go to vote, some state will ultimately have to be last. But by no means does North Carolina, election after election, have to always be one of the last.

Chris Heagarty is the executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.