Wisconsin residents are one step closer to having an earlier say in the presidential primary.
Assembly Bill 548, which moves the state's primary election date from the first Tuesday in April to the third Tuesday in February, unanimously passed the state Senate Committee on Universities, Housing and Government Wednesday with little debate, said Sen. Richard Grobschmidt, D-South Milwaukee.
The move would bring Wisconsin from being in the last half of states to hold their primaries into the first 10. The first state to hold an election is Iowa, which has its caucus Jan. 24, while South Dakota with its June 6 primary is the last.
\I think what has happened over the years is that we have seen that what has been our traditional date [for the primary] no longer has Wisconsin in the ball game,"" Grobschmidt said.
Though similar bills have been authored in the past, the difference this time is that legislators have history to reflect back on, according to Grobschmidt.
""People may have thought in the past maybe in some way Wisconsin can be a pivotal state, but we have had enough history in the past several elections to see that is not the case,"" he said.
A number of other states are considering similar measures as they jockey for influence in the candidates' campaign platforms, according to Greg Reiman, legislative assistant to the bill's co-author, Rep. Scott Walker, R-Wauwatosa.
""We're trying to make our primary significant again to the decision of who is actually selected by pushing it forward in the process,"" he said.
UW political science Professor Charles Franklin said he does not believe an earlier election date will automatically result in more attention to the state.
""The drawback to moving up is you get a lot of primaries going on on the same Tuesday; each individual state gets less attention from the candidates,"" he said. ""Far from what people say it's going to do'give Wisconsin more leverage in the nomination process'it may, because of what everyone else is doing, actually act to dilute our current influences.""
According to Franklin, a shortened primary season'one in which the presidential candidates are picked within weeks instead of months'could lead to voters making uninformed decisions.
""There is an academic argument that early primaries are a problem. As the season goes along, voters develop more understanding of the issues ... the candidates are pushing,"" he said, adding that if the time period becomes more compact ""the nominee will most certainly be the front runner, the one with the most money, the biggest name recognition and so on.""
Grobschmidt said the positive impacts of the move outweigh the costs of a possibly tightened schedule.
""Wisconsin wants its ideas, values and citizens to be considered by candidates,"" he said. ""People are more likely to vote if they know their vote has an effect on the outcome.""
The bill, which has already passed the Assembly, will probably reach the Senate floor sometime later this session, according to Reiman.
