LOS ANGELES — In a bid by California Democrats to exert greater influence over the next presidential nominating contest, Gov. “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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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.
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.