COLUMBIA - To keep Florida from jumping ahead of South Carolina's Republican presidential primary, the SC GOP announced Monday morning that it's moving its primary date up to Saturday, January 21, 2012.
South Carolina's Republican primary was going to be on February 28th, but Florida moved its date up to January 31st, so SC GOP Chairman Chad Connelly moved to keep South Carolina's position as the first primary in the South.
Florida's move is also expected to cause the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada to move up their dates. Under both Republican and Democratic party rules, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina are the only states allowed to hold primaries or caucuses before March 6.
Connelly says the early-voting states help the party, the candidates and the voters.
"Our state is one that candidates truly can criss-cross. They can go to every nook and cranny. They can engage in retail politics like nowhere else. They can get to know the voters. It's the biggest reason that South Carolina, and the other carve-out states, have been given this honor, is we really have a place that it's inexpensive to campaign and voters can connect with someone who could become the president of the United States," he says.
Losing the first-in-the-South primary would be a major blow to the state's political influence and voters, says University of South Carolina political scientist Dr. Mark Tompkins.
"We're a small enough state that, if we're jumbled in with a lot of other states, nobody's going to pay attention," he says. "The candidates aren't going to come here. They're not going to pay attention to South Carolina voters. They're not going to pay attention to the unique issues that face this state. By having a separate primary, by having it early, we basically force the candidates to pay attention to us."
Because Florida moved its primary into January, it faces the loss of half its delegates to the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Tampa. But South Carolina and the other early-voting states face the same punishment, since no state is supposed to vote before February.
Connelly says, "I really think that a state who violates the calendar ought to lose all their delegates. Furthermore, the states who are pushed into January to keep their spot should not be penalized at all. I understand that South Carolina is facing penalties and we may lose as many as half our delegates as well. It's just not right."
He says Florida's move will also cost South Carolina's economy millions of dollars because the presidential campaigns will be campaigning in the state for a month less, spending less on travel and campaign ads.
The party also acknowledges that holding its primary on a Saturday will cost slightly more, but it promises it will raise all of the money needed. Some counties, including Spartanburg, have expressed concern that they'll have to pay thousands of dollars they don't have to run the primary.
Connelly also announced a debate among the Republican presidential challengers will be held in the days before the South Carolina primary in conjunction with Fox News.
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