Governor Proposes Changing Presidential Primary Election Day

According to a report, the Governor has engaged legislative leaders to discuss the possibility of moving New York’s presidential primary date to February. The Governor is interested in also changing the state legislative primary date to coincide with the February presidential primary. Last session, the legislature passed a bill that consolidated the federal (non-presidential) and state primary dates, moving the state primary date to June.

In order to pursue this, the Governor would have to veto a recently delivered bill (A.8176/S.6374) that would officially set the presidential primary date in April and the legislature would have to return to pass a new bill. An early primary would be considered an advantage for the incumbent. Legislative leaders, through spokesmen, have denied considering the move. The Governor discussed his reasons for wanting the change during a Friday radio interview.