Effort to move 2016 state primary falters

SEATAC — An attempt by Republicans to move up the date of next year’s presidential primary fizzled Tuesday when Democratic Party leaders refused to go along.

Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman asked a panel of party leaders to conduct the vote in early March rather than late May to boost Washington’s clout in the national nominating process but only the GOP representatives supported her.

As a result, the primary will be held May 24, one of the last on the political calendar.

“I am very, very disappointed,” Wyman said after the meeting of the bipartisan Presidential Primary Committee empowered to set the date of the election. “By the end of May almost 80 percent of the (nation’s) population will have already cast their ballot. I’m not sure the voters will think it’s a meaningful vote.”

Tuesday’s setback should come as no surprise.

The state Democratic Party decided months ago to ignore the primary results and allocate its 103 presidential delegates at its March 26 caucuses. Their leaders argued Tuesday for doing away with the statewide vote and spending the $11.5 million it will cost to put on elsewhere.

“We want a process that is meaningful for the voters and the primary is not that,” party Chairman Jaxon Ravens said.

And state Sen. Sharon Nelson, D-Maury Island, worried Democratic voters could be confused by a March primary and wrongfully believe “they are choosing delegates and they are not.”

The Republican Party, meanwhile, will use the primary results to apportion half its delegates and caucuses for the other half. With a large field of candidates, their leaders said the March 8 date proposed by Wyman could lure many hopefuls to Washington to campaign.

“That is where we believe it is most advantageous for the voters of Washington state,” GOP Chairwoman Susan Hutchison said of the earlier date. “Republicans in this state want to vote and want to vote at a time when candidates will come to earn their vote.”

State law slates the primary for the fourth Tuesday in May which falls on May 24, 2016. By then, Wyman said, 45 states will have acted. March 8 would put it one week after Super Tuesday, when primaries and caucuses are planned in 12 states, and be among the earliest in the campaign.

She needed to convince six of nine members of the Presidential Primary Committee, a panel comprised of four representatives each from the Democratic and Republican parties and the legislative caucuses in the House and Senate. Wyman, a Republican, is chairwoman.

Attempts to move the date to March 8 and then March 22 failed on 5-4 party line votes.

Tuesday’s stalemate marked the latest skirmish in the somewhat difficult history of the state’s presidential primary.

A 1989 citizen initiative prompted its creation and Washington held its first primary in 1992. Since then there have been three more while two were canceled — in 2004 and 2012 — for financial reasons.

This year, Gov. Jay Inslee signaled his desire to cancel the 2016 vote when he didn’t provide funding for one in his initial budget proposal.

Wyman, meanwhile, wanted to permanently change the date and require both parties to use the results to apportion some of their delegates. That proposal failed.

Until Tuesday, Wyman said she was inclined to see the primary canceled if she could not get the date moved to March.

“My position changed in the meeting,” she said. “I think people will want to participate in the primary.”

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.