By Kyle LoJacono
Despite the threat of sanctions from the Republican Party, Florida will have its presidential primary election on Jan. 31.
The move is meant to make the Sunshine State more influential in the race for the White House, according to Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera of R-Miami.
“Florida needs to be a player,” Lopez-Cantera said.
In 2008, Florida also moved up its presidential primary to Jan. 29. Lopez-Cantera, who proposed the early date this year, pointed out the move three years ago “increased Republican turnout by 250 percent” in the primary.
Republican National Committee rules state only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina can have primaries/caucuses before March 6. Florida Republicans lost half of their convention delegates because of the move in 2008. Tampa is hosting the national convention next year.
Land O’ Lakes resident Marcus Toms said he thinks the move is good even if delegates are lost.
“Florida is important and should have a big say in who runs for president,” Toms said. “Most of the time whoever Florida voters choose is who becomes president.”
Odessa resident Marla Black had a different opinion.
“I think the primaries are too early as it is,” Black said. “States keep jumping over each other to be first. Just have them all on the same day.”
While the move may violate GOP rules, local supervisors of elections do not see any problems with the early date – at least in terms of execution.
“We will be ready to go,” said Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley. “We were waiting for the date and now that we have it we can work with that as the deadline.”
Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Earl Lennard added, “That shouldn’t be a problem.”
Corley said the nearly 80 changes to the election code offered a bigger challenge than the move. He stressed there are a few changes voters will see starting in January.
“First early voting is only eight days now instead of 14,” Corley said. “The early voting dates for the presidential primary are Jan. 21-28. … The other big change is if you have moved to another county, say from Hillsborough to Pasco, you need to contact the Supervisor of Elections Office before the vote to get a change of address confirmed. We don’t want people to miss out on voting because they don’t know this new law.”
As Florida pushes its presidential primary forward, a battle is brewing in the GOP for the right to oppose President Barack Obama in November 2012. Top Republican contenders include Mitt Romney, Herman Cain and Rick Perry.
For more information about Pasco elections, call (813) 929-2788 or visit pascovotes.com. In Hillsborough, visit votehillsborough.org.
Pasco early voting sites
Land O’ Lakes Branch Library, 2818 Collier Parkway in Land O’ Lakes
New River Branch Library, 34043 SR 54 in Zephyrhills
East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth St. in Dade City
West Pasco Government Center, 8731 Citizens Drive in New Port Richey
South Holiday Branch Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive in Holiday
Hudson Regional Library, 8012 Library Road in Hudson
Hillsborough early voting sites
Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 West Bearss Ave. in Lake Magdalene
New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa
Fred B. Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. in Tampa
Robert L. Gilder Elections Service Center, 2514 N. Falkenburg Road in Tampa
Bloomingdale Regional Public Library, 1906 Bloomingdale Ave. in Valrico
C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library, 2607 East Drive Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Tampa
Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 South Manhattan Ave. in Tampa
North Tampa Branch Library, 8916 North Blvd. in Tampa
Plant City’s city hall, 302 West Reynolds St. in Plant City
Riverview Branch Library, 10509 Riverview Drive in Riverview
SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way in Ruskin
Temple Terrace Public Library, 202 Bullard Parkway in Temple Terrace
Town ‘N Country Regional Public Library, 7606 Paula Drive in Tampa
West Tampa Branch Library, 2312 West Union St. in Tampa
Upper Tampa Bay Regional Public Library, 11211 Countryway Blvd. in Tampa
Pasco registration statistics
Republicans: 114,628
Democrats: 106,456
Others: 75,031
Hillsborough registration statistics
Democrats: 281,575
Republicans: 227,035
Others: 166,424
*As of Sept. 30
