Republicans hatch plan that could make Alabama a player in Presidential elections – Yellowhammer News

Political leaders in Alabama and other Southern states have grown frustrated with their states’ lack of influence in the presidential primaries and have hatched a plan that could have profound implications for the 2016 elections — especially for Republicans.

The plan, which would set up what has been dubbed the “SEC Primary,” has garnered early support from top Republicans across the region, including here in Alabama.

“If it’s limited to six or eight states, I think it would bring candidates to the Southern part of the United States,” said Alabama Secretary of State Jim Bennett.

This is not the first time Republicans have tried to maneuver Alabama into a place of relevance in the nominating process.

In most presidential election years through the 2004 cycle, Alabama held its presidential primaries in June, often long after voters in other states had essentially decided the outcome of the races. So lawmakers passed a bill that moved Alabama’s presidential primaries up to the first Tuesday in February.

But in an effort to condense the primary campaign calendar, both national party committees passed a rule cutting in half the number of delegates a state could send to the party convention if they held their primary before the first Tuesday in March.

So in 2011, the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature passed a bill moving the presidential-year primaries to the second Tuesday in March alongside Mississippi. As a result, several candidates visited the state and the ALGOP was able to host a presidential forum featuring Rick Santorum — who eventually won the Alabama primary — and Newt Gingrich. However, the frontrunner, Mitt Romney, only dropped into the state to hold a high-dollar fundraiser and didn’t actively campaign, ceding Alabama to more conservative candidates without much concern because of its limited importance.

The SEC Primary plan would likely make Alabama and other Southern states much more influential in picking the party’s nominee.

via Republicans hatch plan that could make Alabama a player in Presidential elections – Yellowhammer News.