New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner
Nevada GOP officials agreed unanimously on Saturday to postpone their presidential caucuses from Saturday, Jan. 14 to Saturday, Feb. 4. Nevada’s move means that the state will no longer be threatened with sanctions.
The date initially chosen by Nevada posed a series of problems for New Hampshire. Because state law demands New Hampshire holds its caucuses at least seven days prior to the next “similar” election, the state was unable to find a Tuesday in which to hold its primary between Tuesday, Jan. 3, the day of Iowa’s caucuses, and Saturday, Jan. 14.
As a result, New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner stated that he was looking at holding his state’s presidential caucuses in December. There were fears that Iowa may have followed suit and organized its elections in December too. It is now thought that New Hampshire will hold its primary on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Secretary of State Gardner is expected to confirm this date on Monday.
Although the Republican National Committee was not expecting any votes to take place until February, several states decided to move their contests forward. As far as Nevada is concerned, large numbers of donors and activists wanted their state to vote before Florida, which is due to hold its caucuses on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Indeed, Republican National Committee rules state that Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina should be the first four states to vote in the primary caucus calendar. Nevada will now be the fifth on the list, behind Florida.
It is believed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was keen for the Nevada primaries to be held at an early stage, so that he could benefit from the popularity he currently enjoys.
Because Nevada agreed to postpone its presidential caucuses, all of its 29 delegates to the Republican Convention will now be reinstated.
