How a springtime primary in bright-red Georgia could tip power in US Senate – CSMonitor.com

Federal Judge Steve Jones on Monday agreed to move Georgia’s primary date to May 20, the earliest in state history, chiefly to accommodate military and overseas voters in the case of a runoff election.

But for Georgia’s Republican establishment, the ruling also packs a political punch: They’re hoping that an earlier primary season will increase turnout, especially among mainstream voters, and help thwart a repeat of embarrassing losses last year in Indiana and Missouri, where tea-party-style candidates –Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin – flamed out and lost elections that would have moved the GOP closer to taking majority control of the US Senate.

Democrats now hold the Senate and the White House, with the GOP in control of the House of Representatives. To win control of the US Senate, Republicans must pick up six seats in 2014, while holding onto what they’ve got, which they failed to do in 2012.

Pushing the primary date ahead of summer is expected to boost turnout and give candidates more time to campaign in an expected runoff.

The upshot, writes Jim Galloway, a veteran political columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is that the date change “has been eyed by many Republicans as a means of reducing the influence of hard-core conservative activists and tea party elements in the GOP.”

While the tea party movement has cooled off since its 2010 heyday, its impressive state primary strategy continues to pay off for right-wing conservatives and to vex mainstream Republicans. The two wings of the party are, basically, engaged in a civil war for the future of the party.

via How a springtime primary in bright-red Georgia could tip power in US Senate – CSMonitor.com.