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10-Member Committee Likely Will Select Florida Presidential Primary Date
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon announced during a media telephone conference Wednesday that Reps. Seth McKeel and Dennis Baxley will introduce an amendment Thursday creating a 10-member committee to choose Florida's much-debated presidential primary date.
Cannon said the amendment has the support of Senate President Mike Haridopolos.
The amendment stipulates that three each of the committee's members will be appointed by the House, the Senate and the governor's office. The 10th member, the secretary of state, will serve as chairman.
Cannon said Florida's diversity, above all, makes it an important swing state worthy of an early primary date. But establishing the committee, which has until October to decide on a primary date between the first Tuesday in January and the first Tuesday in March, will give the selection process "flexibility," to do the right thing for all the states. "Let's avoid a national food fight," Cannon said.
The speaker said he's hopeful Florida can lead the way in creating "a national calendar" to make all the states happy with the process.
Floridas primary date has been a bone of contention since 2008, when it jumped its primary up to Jan. 31, arguing even then that it was an important swing state. It cut ahead of New York, for example. As a result, the Democratic National Committee removed some of Florida's delegates.
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