DNC warns Gov. Cuomo he better not change Primary Day

The Democratic National Committee warned New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Friday that moving up the state’s primary election day would come with consequences.

Cuomo’s desire to change the Democratic primary from April 28 to February came up at a DNC Rules and Bylaws meeting Friday and was quickly dismissed by leadership.

“Moving into the February pre-window would be a violation of the DNC timing rules,” said Jim Roosevelt, co-chair of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. “And those whose memories stretch back to 2008 will remember that we do not take violations of the timing rule lightly and we would take appropriate action if that were to happen.”

In 2008, Michigan and Florida skirted party rules and moved up their primaries in effort to grab some of the candidate attention that is usually reserved for early states like Iowa and New Hampshire. As punishment, the DNC took away half their delegate votes at the convention.

NY1 reported Thursday that Cuomo was considering also moving the Senate and Assembly primaries that are scheduled for June 23 to February in a move that could boost turnout, protect incumbents and make New York a relevant campaign stop for 2020 hopefuls.

But on Friday, Cuomo acknowledged the date change is unlikely to happen.

“I do think Gov. Cuomo’s subsequent statement today may reflect the fact of the Democratic leadership of both the assembly and senate expressed that they had no interest in moving the primary,” Roosevelt told the DNC committee. “We’ll keep monitoring the situation.”

Cuomo communications director Dani Lever said in a statement, “The Governor believes the best governmental practice is to consolidate the presidential, congressional and state primary elections on one day making it easier to vote and saving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars rather than holding multiple elections. That was the rationale for moving the September statewide primaries up to coordinate with the June federal primaries. The presidential primary of April 28 this year adds a new element and the easiest solution is to hold the state and congressional primaries on that date: April 28.

“Governor Cuomo believes we should want as many voters to participate in the process as possible, and everything we have done since Democrats have taken full control in Albany has been to make it easier for people to vote, including enacting early voting. A state and congressional primary election held two months after a presidential primary is an unnecessary obstacle to voter participation. At least 15 other states have a single combined primary for presidential, federal and state races for exactly this reason. Ideally New York would have an earlier presidential primary date to be more relevant to the national dialogue but that is not under consideration as it is not politically feasible at this point.”

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