Two More Counties Move Off March 17 St. Patrick’s Day GOP Caucuses February 20, 2012

Chalk it up to the Luck ‘O the Irish, the AP reports two more counties are moving thier GOP Presidential caucuses off St. Patrick’s day, March 17.
AP: “Missouri Republicans will make their first binding presidential candidate choices on different days next month.
Republicans in most counties will hold caucuses on St. Patrick’s Day – March 17 at 10 a.m. Republicans in Jackson County and St. Louis city are waiting a week and will meet March 24.”
Jackson County Republican Chairman Shirley Simmons says her group expressely asked to shift their caucus date so there would not be a conflict with the Kansas City metro’s huge St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The downtown Kansas City Parade reguarly attarcts more than 200,000 people to the Parade (see previous post).
More AP: “Chariton ((SHAYR’-uh-tuhn) County in central Missouri is holding its caucus March 15, and southeastern Wayne County is meeting March 16.
Requests to change caucus dates are considered by the state Republican Party chairman.
The results from Missouri’s presidential primary earlier this month were not binding for Republicans. The state party opted to use caucuses to determine presidential delegates because the state primary was held too early under national Republican rules.

Missouri & Mitt, Not So Much, 3P looks at Beauty Contest and Beyond, Santorum Leads Mo. Poll January 31, 2012

On the night of one of Mitt Romney’s biggest primary victories, his Sunshine State shadow is short in Missouri.
Public Policy Polling indicates Romney has work to do in Missouri. That’s despite the fact the much of the GOP leadership has lined up behind his campaign.
Former US Senator Jim Talent and current Senator Roy Blunt lead that parade.
But 3P writes, “Newt Gingrich still looks pretty strong in Missouri and Ohio, but the candidate with the greatest potential to challenge Romney, in the Midwest at least, is Rick Santorum.”
Santorum made a brief stop in Missouri in St. Charles County. He candidly told KMBC TV he was looking for good news.
“Winning is winning” he said.
3P states, “in Missouri, held a week from today, Santorum has a 63-21 favorability spread to Gingrich’s 52-32, Romney’s 46-36, and Paul’s 28-57. On the actual primary ballot, for which Gingrich did not qualify, Santorum leads with 45% to Romney’s 34% and Paul’s 13%. In the caucus, in which Gingrich can compete, Santorum falls to second at 28% behind the former speaker’s 30% and ahead of Romney’s 24% and Paul’s 11%. Head-to-head, Gingrich would defeat Romney in the state, 43-42, but Santorum would, 50-37. That is because Santorum’s supporters only go for Gingrich by eight points over Romney, but Gingrich’s vote for Santorum by 28 points.
The Missouri Caucus is on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. In the hard-to-figure- Republican nominating race, that could be political light years away.

2012 Primary Schedule Firms Up, New Hampshire Sets Primary Date November 2, 2011

(AP) – New Hampshire has scheduled its first-in-the-nation presidential primary for the second Tuesday in January, finally giving candidates a concrete calendar after months of uncertainty.

The Jan. 10 date announced by Secretary of State Bill Gardner Wednesday had been widely expected since Nevada Republicans voted last month to shift their presidential caucuses to early February, ending what had become a bitter standoff among rival states.

Gardner had warned that Nevada’s initial decision to hold its contest in mid-January could force New Hampshire to vote in early December.

Iowa will vote a week ahead of New Hampshire, with South Carolina, Florida and Nevada coming afterward.

During the last presidential campaign, Gardner waited until Nov. 21 to set the Jan. 8 date.

The state of Missouri has a non-binding ‘beauty contest’ primary set for February 7.  No delegates, however will be at stake during that vote.

Missouri’s caucus is set for St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2012. That is when the state delegate selection process will begin.

Kansas Republicans have  their delegate selection process starting with a set of caucuses on March 10, 2012.

 

Lawsuit Wants to Force Parties, Not States, to Pay for Political Primaries October 24, 2011

(AP) – The South Carolina Supreme Court says it will decide a challenge brought by four counties that say the first-in-the-South presidential primary is private and the taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Monday’s decision comes after the South Carolina Republican Party filed a response to the litigation.

Last week, Beaufort, Chester, Greenville and Spartanburg counties told the Supreme Court that the state didn’t have enough money to handle the primary. They said their taxpayers had to cover nearly $1 million in expenses for the 2008 Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.

Earlier Monday,  Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan criticized Missouri Republicans who want to cancel Missouri’s “beauty contest” primary Feb. 7, 2012 (see previous post).

Carnahan says eliminating primaries  forces voters back into party systems they may not like or prefer. 

Missouri Republican’s February 7 presidential primary is non-binding. No delegates are at stake. Because of that, some Republicans think it is an $8 million waste of money Missouri could do without.

The Missouri GOP delegate selection process starts with a set of county caucuses on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2012.