Senate panel approves plan to push back primary

A Senate panel reversed course today and advanced a proposal to push Louisiana’s presidential primaries from February to March, after having shelved the idea only days earlier. The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the measure, House Bill 509, on a 5-4 vote after hearing from supporters who said that, without the change, the state’s representation at national party conventions would be jeopardized. The measure, already approved by the House, would switch the date of the primary to the third Saturday after the first Tuesday in March, similar to where it was before the 2008 primary. The proposal heads next to the full Senate for debate. The state moved its party primary up in an effort to make Louisiana play a more significant role in the presidential nominating process. But that effort was unsuccessful, as the Republican and Democratic parties kept New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina as the early primary states. Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, said unless the date is moved, the Republican Party of Louisiana would lose half its delegates to the GOP’s national convention in 2012 and that the Louisiana Democratic Party would lose all of its delegates to the Democratic national convention.