Responding to pressure during previous presidential elections to allow other states' primaries to precede New Hampshire's, lawmakers in the state House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that will ensure the state maintains the first primary in the nation.
State Rep. James Splaine, D-Rockingham, introduced the bill last year as an amendment to a current law that he first proposed in 1975. This week's bill passed with a voice vote and a clear majority, state Rep. David Pierce, D-Grafton, said.
The law mandates that the New Hampshire secretary of state choose the date of the presidential primary in New Hampshire after other states have chosen their dates. That way, the secretary of state can schedule the date of New Hampshire's primary at least seven days prior to the next earliest primary, Splaine said.
The bill is aimed at preserving New Hampshire's tradition of holding the first primary even when other states attempt to hold presidential contests of their own under different names, Splaine said. The bill allows the secretary of state to interpret whether a contest at which delegates are chosen for the national conventions is significant enough to challenge the importance of New Hampshire's primary.
Because of New Hampshire's small size and the low cost of campaigning here, Splaine said that candidates with substance and a clear message can gain national prominence. Splaine mentioned various U.S. presidents whose election successes he attributed to their campaigns in New Hampshire, including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
The bill makes it impossible for states to move their contests ahead simply by labeling them as something other than primaries, Splaine said.
Pierce noted that in 2008, Wyoming held a caucus convention three days before New Hampshire's primary, but the decision was made by the secretary of state at the time to keep the New Hampshire primary's date that year.
"There was a feeling that it did not threaten the tradition," Pierce said.
The convention in Wyoming was insignificant because the candidates did not travel there and because of the small size of the state, Splaine said.
In 2006, the National Democratic Convention tried to squeeze the Nevada and South Carolina caucuses before New Hampshire's primary, he added.
"This would have diluted the importance of the election in New Hampshire," he said. "We beat them then and we will beat them in the future."
New Hampshire has the ability to maintain their national position as the first presidential primary because it pays for the election, Splaine said.
"I think for 2012, 2016, 2020 and beyond, we're all set, because no matter what the national parties or other states do, we'll retain our lead-off status," Splaine said. "Our state law protects us."
New Hampshire's primary has followed Iowa's caucus in previous elections. The new bill allows for that precedent, but if any other state attempts to hold a presidential contest second or third, New Hampshire will move its primary at least a week ahead of it, according to Splaine.
"I think the New Hampshire primary is a very significant contribution," he said. "When candidates come to New Hampshire they talk with us, not at us. They meet with us in our living rooms and they meet with students in their dorm rooms."
The bill will go to the state Senate for approval now that it has passed in the House, and Pierce said he expects it to pass there as well.
According to the state's web site, the next hearing on the bill will be held on Feb. 3.
