GOP operatives push for giant Midwestern presidential primary in 2016

If Republicans are to take back the White House in 2016, they’ll need to vastly improve their performance in the Midwest.

That’s why some GOP operatives are pitching the idea of a Midwestern regional primary.

The proposal was first publicly floated by consultant Mike Murphy, who raised it in his TIME column:

Some GOP operatives are pitching the idea of a Midwestern regional primary, and it’s a good one.  The concept is a bunch of key Midwestern swing states — Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and a few others — would all have their primaries on a single day, not long after the Florida primary.  Those states are critical to winning a general election: let’s make their voice in the primary system louder.

In an e-mail, Murphy acknowledged he isn’t sure how much momentum the idea has.  ”I’m hoping it will catch on and gave it a plug,” he said.

But those familiar with the discussions inside the Republican National Committee told The RUN they haven’t observed a groundswell of support for a mega-Midwestern election day.

While the regional primary has been mentioned in conversations among RNC members, the foremost initial goal is carving out slots in February 2016 for the four earliest states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.  Another likelihood: Any state electing to hold a contest during the first two weeks of March will be required to allocate their delegates proportionally to make sure the process is spread out enough that a front runner can’t win all the contests on one day.

That rule would seem to take the air out of a Midwestern regional primary altogether.

RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski would only say, “It’s too early to tell what the primary process is going to look like but the discussions are happening.”

Given the controversies and penalties that boiled up around the calendar schedule last cycle, it’s difficult to get state party officials to even comment on proposals.

Some party officials contacted were completely unaware of the Midwestern regional primary idea, but most states won’t set their 2016 date until 2015.  And many won’t move without getting the ok from the RNC, which seems determined to streamline its 2016 process to eliminate as much drama as possible.

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