House Moves 2016 Presidential Primary To March | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Amendment requiring governor and lt. governor to run as team fails

    RALEIGH — The House on Wednesday approved a bill that would shift next year's North Carolina presidential preference primary from late February to March 8. That chamber also nixed a proposed amendment to the N.C. Constitution that would have required a party's candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run as a team on general election ballots.

    House Bill 457, the presidential primary move, is aimed at averting likely penalties to the state's delegations to the 2016 Republican and Democratic national conventions if the balloting were held before March 1. Both major parties want to prevent more front-loading of presidential primaries and caucuses. If the primaries were held before March 1, both national parties have said they would reduce delegations from those states significantly — perhaps by more than 80 percent.

    "This change is made to comply with the rules of the two major political parties," Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, told the House Wednesday night.

    The bill has bipartisan support. Earlier Wednesday, during a review by the House Elections Committee, Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, endorsed the bill.

    "You [Republicans] are going to lose some delegates if this thing stays the way it is, and we [Democrats] are going to lose some too," Michaux said. "I don't see that we have much of a choice."

    Traditionally, North Carolina has held its presidential preference primary in May, along with primaries for statewide and local offices. In 2013, the General Assembly passed a bill moving the presidential preference primary to the first Tuesday after South Carolina holds its presidential preference primary.

    That shift is likely to place the presidential primary on Feb. 23, 2016. However, the Republican National Committee has said it would reduce the North Carolina delegation from 72 to 12 if the state's primary occurs before March 1, 2016.

    Lewis said that lawmakers moved up the state's presidential primary because nominees typically have been chosen by May.

    "It makes sure we can be as relevant as we can be," Lewis said of H.B. 457.

    The bill passed the House 111-1 and moves to the Senate. Previously, Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, said that he believes the Republican National Committee would forgo penalties against the North Carolina delegation if they understood that a late February primary would not disrupt voting in states that have been granted status as the "first four" to choose delegates in primaries and caucuses — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

    Even so, Lewis said Wednesday night he had communications from both major parties indicating they would have no problem with a March 8 North Carolina primary.

    Supporters of House Bill 344, the gubernatorial team ticket measure, were not able to muster the three-fifths majority required to place the proposed amendment before voters. Only 60 voted in favor of the measure, with 58 opposing it.

    It would have stipulated that, beginning in 2020, party nominees for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team in the general election. Had the measure been approved by the General Assembly, it would have been on the ballot for ratification in 2018.

    "It just makes sense that the lieutenant governor should be of the same party as the governor," said Rep. Bert Jones, R-Rockingham, who sponsored the bill. Jones said that of the 43 states with lieutenant governors, 25 of them run as a team with the nominee for governor in the state's general election. Making sure the governor and lieutenant governor are from the same party would make for a smooth transition in case the governor leaves office, he said.

    Michaux, however, said the change wasn't necessary. "We've lived well with what we have right now," Michaux said.

    Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, said the state's founders were wise not to have the two top executive branch officers elected jointly.

    "North Carolina has been, in the past, a state that was reluctant to trust too much power to government," Pittman said. "They were wise enough to give us an independent lieutenant governor by not giving us a team ticket."