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This is Essential Politics, our in-the-moment look at California political and government news.

Sign up for our free newsletter for analysis and more, and subscribe to the California Politics Podcast. Also don’t miss our Essential Politics page in Sunday’s California section.</s>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California will move its presidential primary from June to March under a bill signed on Wednesday by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, a change aimed at giving the liberal-leaning state more influence in choosing candidates from either national party.

FILE PHOTO - A poll worker places a mail-in ballot into a voting box as voters drop off their ballot in the U.S. presidential primary election in San Diego, California, United States, June 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

The most populous U.S. state, which voted heavily for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election, has traditionally held its primary so late that Democratic and Republican voters in other states had essentially already chosen their parties’ candidates.

“The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat who backed the change, in a statement. “Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country’s highest office.”

The bill was passed mostly along party lines in the majority-Democrat legislature.

The new date will leave the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in place as the first and second contests of the presidential election cycle, during which voters in each state choose the candidate they would like their party to nominate for president.

Because California’s primary has been in June while others were held earlier, candidates have largely ignored the state, spending less on outreach than elsewhere, making fewer visits, and failing to prioritize California voters’ concerns in their campaigns, supporters said.

In 2016, California Democrats chose Clinton and Republicans opted for Donald Trump, the populist businessman who ultimately won the presidency.

Backers in the legislature said the early primary would lead to less divisive choices by members of both major parties in the 2020 election cycle, and establish California as a leading voice in the choice of candidates.

Progressive Democrats also believe that moving the primary up could result in their party’s selection of more liberal candidates.

“California is the beating heart of the national resistance to Trump, and California Democrats are defining the progressive agenda for America,” state Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman said in a press release. “When it comes to deciding the Democratic nominee, our voices need to be heard early in the process.”</s>LOS ANGELES — In a bid by California Democrats to exert greater influence over the next presidential nominating contest, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed legislation moving the state’s 2020 primary election up three months to March.

An earlier primary in the nation’s most populous state could re-draw the shape of the 2020 campaign, forcing candidates to compete in a state that has long served as an afterthought in national elections.

California will now hold its presidential primary on March 3, 2020, just after nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Because of the prevalence of early voting in California, the move could see candidates trekking back and forth from the West Coast even before those first nominating contests.

“The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a prepared statement. “California’s primary will officially be in prime time. Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country’s highest office.”

Padilla and other supporters of the bill said an earlier primary could focus national attention on significant issues in this heavily Democratic state, including climate change and immigration.

The early primary could also help two prospective presidential candidates from California — Sen. Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

California has held early presidential primaries before with little effect, including in 2008. The state’s distance from other states and the cost of advertising in its massive media markets make campaigning here difficult no matter when the primary is held.

But the Democratic field in 2020 appears wide open, and an early contest in California could provide an opening for candidates able to raise enough money to compete.</s>SACRAMENTO (AP) — Super Tuesday, the jam-packed day of presidential primary voting every four years, may get supercharged in 2020 with California joining the pack, bringing along its prize of the most delegates.

Gov. Jerry Brown gave his stamp of approval Wednesday to a measure jumping California’s primary up to the beginning of March, three months earlier than its contest in 2016, when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had already captured the major parties’ nominations.

“The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process,” Democratic Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. “Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country’s highest office.

Bumping the primary up is designed to give the nation’s most populous state more sway in choosing the Republican and Democratic nominees.

And it could seriously shake up the nominating contest.

California, home to 11 media markets, is an expensive state to campaign in, potentially giving well-funded candidates an edge.

Democratic leaders said the bill gives California the spotlight it deserves given its record of pushing the national conversation around immigration and other issues.

“With all due respect to our brothers and sisters in Iowa and New Hampshire, California is the beating heart of the national resistance to Trump,” Eric Bauman, chairman of the California Democratic Party, said in a statement. “When it comes to deciding the Democratic nominee, our voices need to be heard early in the process.”

Iowa and New Hampshire will still have their early say.

The measure puts the state’s primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, often known as “Super Tuesday,” when as many as a dozen states hold nominating contests. It will still fall after the earliest caucuses and primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

In 2016, California held its primary in June when Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were already the major party nominees. California typically awards the most delegates.

The state moved its presidential primary to February in 2008, but the shift did not exert influence on the Democratic side. Clinton won the state’s primary, but Barack Obama went on to capture the party’s nomination.

The change also pushes California’s primary for state offices to March.

The Democratic and Republican national committees have not set rules for the 2020 contest yet. The parties set a calendar as well as how many delegates each state is awarded.

California received extra delegates for holding a late primary in 2016 and likewise could be punished in 2020 for moving up the election.</s>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Wednesday to move up California’s 2020 presidential primary in a bid to give the nation’s most populous state more sway in choosing the Republican and Democratic nominees.

Holding an earlier primary in California, which is expensive to campaign in, could shake up the nominating contests by giving an earlier edge to candidates with more money. The state is home to 11 media markets.

Elected officials and Democratic leaders said the bill gives California the spotlight it deserves given its record of pushing the national conversation around immigration and other issues.

“With all due respect to our brothers and sisters in Iowa and New Hampshire, California is the beating heart of the national resistance to Trump,” Eric Bauman, chairman of the California Democratic Party, said in a statement. “When it comes to deciding the Democratic nominee, our voices need to be heard early in the process.”

Iowa and New Hampshire will still have their early say.

The measure puts the state’s primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, often known as “Super Tuesday,” when as many as a dozen states hold nominating contests. It will still fall after the earliest caucuses and primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

In 2016, California held its primary in June when Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were already the major party nominees. California typically awards the most delegates.

The state moved its presidential primary to February in 2008, but the shift did not exert influence on the Democratic side. Clinton won the state’s primary, but Barack Obama went on to capture the party’s nomination.

The change also pushes California’s primary for state offices to March.

The Democratic and Republican national committees have not set rules for the 2020 contest yet. The parties set a calendar as well as how many delegates each state is awarded.

California received extra delegates for holding a late primary in 2016 and likewise could be punished in 2020 for moving up the election.

Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Wednesday to move up California's 2020 presidential primary in a bid to give the nation's most populous state more sway in choosing the Republican and Democratic nominees.

Holding an earlier primary in California, which is expensive to campaign in, could shake up the nominating contests by giving an earlier edge to candidates with more money. The state is home to 11 media markets.

The measure puts the state's primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, often known as "Super Tuesday," when as many as a dozen states hold nominating contests. It will still fall after the earliest caucuses and primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In 2016, California held its primary in June when Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were already the major party nominees. California typically awards the most delegates.

The state moved its presidential primary to February in 2008, but the shift did not exert influence on the Democratic side. Clinton won the state's primary, but Barack Obama went on to capture the party's nomination.

The change also pushes California's primary for state offices to March.

The Democratic and Republican national committees have not set rules for the 2020 contest yet. The parties set a calendar as well as how many delegates each state is awarded.

California received extra delegates for holding a late primary in 2016 and likewise could be punished in 2020 for moving up the election.</s>In an attempt to increase California’s influence over the country’s presidential primaries, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Wednesday afternoon legislation that moves the state’s presidential primary date forward by several months.

This means that California’s next primary will be held on March 3, 2020, placing it fourth in the caucus and primary line after Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Though California won’t be the only state voting on that date, because of its size, it will certainly be the most influential.

“We have a greater responsibility and a greater role to promote a different sort of agenda at the national level,” said state senator Ricardo Lara, one of the law’s authors, to the Los Angeles Times. “We need to have a greater influence at the national level.”

California’s last presidential primary was held on June 7, 2016, by which point then-candidate Donald Trump had already clinched enough delegates to secure the GOP nomination. The law, which had bipartisan support in the state legislature, is intended to make California less of an afterthought during the presidential primary process. Lawmakers hope moving the primary date forward will force candidates to actively campaign in California—instead of treating the state as a fundraising piggybank.

There’s also wide speculation that the bill could help some potential California candidates in the Democratic party’s 2020 primary, notably Senator Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Moving the state’s primary forward means the state will lose 70 delegates at the next Democratic National Convention. In the past, the DNC has offered California a 70-delegate incentive to keep the notoriously difficult-to-campaign-in state from holding its primary until late in the nomination process. Even so, California will remain the heaviest state in the primary process.

“The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement. “California’s primary will officially be in prime time. Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country’s highest office.”</s>SAN FRANCISCO ― California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill Wednesday moving the state’s presidential primary from June to March, a change geared toward increasing the influence of the nation’s most populous state in selecting presidential nominees.

Senate Bill 568, the “Prime Time Primary” bill, written by state Sen. Richard Lara (D-Bell Gardens), would move presidential and statewide primary elections to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, on what is typically known as Super Tuesday, when many other states also hold nominating contests. California had held its primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June.

The new schedule will go into effect in 2019, setting California up to be one of the first states in the nation to cast ballots in the 2020 race.

Lara and other proponents of the bill hope that by moving the race to primary season’s “prime time,” Californians will have more say in the process. They’ve cited the 2016 primary, when both the Democratic and Republican nominations were all but formally locked up by the time California voted, as an example of why the change would benefit the state’s voters.

“Moving California’s presidential primary to March from June means candidates in both parties can’t treat immigration, climate change, criminal justice reform and investing in jobs and innovation like afterthoughts, as they did too often in 2016,” Lara said in a statement after the bill passed the state Assembly. “The prime-time primary will lift up the voices of Californians on issues where we are leading the nation if not the world.”

California is an overwhelmingly Democratic state ― roughly 45 percent of state voters are registered as Democrats, versus 26 percent as Republicans. In 2016, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received 61.5 percent of the state’s votes to 31.5 percent for Donald Trump.

The bill’s proponents also argued that moving the primary up will engage more voters and increase turnout. They’ve pointed to 2008 — when California moved its primary to February and saw the highest turnout since 1980 — as an example of how an earlier election could increase interest. (California’s Legislature moved the primary back to June in 2011.)

“Too often California is relegated to serving as a political ATM for presidential candidates,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D), a sponsor of the bill, said in September. “Moving up California’s primary will strengthen the voice of California voters in the presidential nominating process.”</s>The measure puts the state’s primary on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, often known as “Super Tuesday,” when as many as a dozen states hold nominating contests. It will still fall after the earliest caucuses and primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In 2016, California held its primary in June when Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were already the major party nominees. California typically awards the most delegates.

The state moved its presidential primary to February in 2008, but the shift did not exert influence on the Democratic side. Clinton won the state’s primary, but Barack Obama went on to capture the party’s nomination.

The change also pushes California’s primary for state offices to March.

The Democratic and Republican national committees have not set rules for the 2020 contest yet. The parties set a calendar as well as how many delegates each state is awarded.

California received extra delegates for holding a late primary in 2016 and likewise could be punished in 2020 for moving up the election.</s>The California Assembly has voted to move the 2020 presidential primary to March to give the nation’s most populous state more influence in choosing nominees.

The bill approved Friday will now go to the state Senate where it’s expected to pass. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said whether he’ll sign it.

The bill would move the presidential primary to the Tuesday after the first Monday in March — three months earlier than the June contest held in 2016, when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were already the presumptive nominees.

A March primary would likely fall on so-called “Super Tuesday,” when roughly a dozen states typically vote following the early primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and several other states. – READ MORE
California moves its 2020 presidential primary to March 3, making it fifth in the nominating process after Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. The 2016 primary was held on June 7.