The possibility of reviving the Potomac Primary for the 2012 presidential election is all but dead, but the District is leaning toward holding its vote for April 3 so it can combine with Maryland to grab extra delegates at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. In 2008, Virginia, D.C. and Maryland held their primaries on Feb. 12. But new party rules in place this year have every state in the country rescheduling their primaries as they scramble to take advantage of incentives that can add to the number of delegates representing them at the national conventions.
| Special election update |
| The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics is preparing to mail to District residents a notice for an April special election to chose an at-large councilman. |
| Last month, The Washington Examiner reported that the board was recommending the notice be cut to save about $80,000 on the tightly budgeted election. |
| “We’re planning on being able to send out a postcard that will include a prominent link to the online voter guide,” board of elections spokeswoman Alysoun McLaughlin told the D.C. Council during a hearing Wednesday. |
| The cash for the postcard hasn’t been appropriated yet, elections board Executive Director Rokey Suleman said, adding that he has been told the dollars will be found. |
Virginia has already broken ranks with the other Potomac Primary members. Last month, its legislature set the date for the 2012 primary as the first Tuesday in March. The commonwealth wasn’t worried about having a regional primary, it was more concerned with going first, Sen. Jill Vogel, R-Winchester, told The Washington Examiner. March 6 is likely to be the new “Super Tuesday” since it’s the first opportunity under the new rules for most states to vote without losing delegates.
The District and Maryland, however, are still vying for the 25 percent delegate boost they can get by banding together and holding their primary between April 1 and May 1.
“I’ve taken the temperature of other council members and there seems to be some consensus around April 3,” Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh told The Washington Examiner on Wednesday before a hearing on the city’s 2012 primary date. Cheh heads the council committee that has oversight over D.C. elections. “We want to have a vote which serves as a presidential primary and a primary for local candidates,” she said.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has introduced a bill to the state legislature to also hold the primary on April 3.
