Florida's presidential primary could be as early as January Associated Press Thursday, March 22, 2007 ...House Republicans and Democrats passed the earlier primary bill (HB 537) by a 115-1 vote a challenge to the national parties that are wielding threats in an attempt to prevent a nationwide race for earlier and earlier primaries.
... By its own state law, New Hampshire must have the nation's earliest primary. Its secretary of state has said he will choose a date in the fall to ensure the Granite State's primacy.
National Democrats have recommended a Jan. 22 vote in New Hampshire. If that date is chosen, Florida's vote would occur Jan. 29, with early voting starting two weeks earlier.
California, with the largest state population, signed a Feb. 5 primary into law last week.
Florida lawmakers believe the state's demographic and political diversity merit a greater say in the selection of nominees. They're tired of candidates treating the fourth-largest state as a fundraising ATM, only to take the money to campaign in small states like Iowa and New Hampshire. And they say they are willing to call the bluffs of the national parties, which have threatened to take away
delegates the state parties send to the nominating conventions
