Iowa sets January 3 caucus date
Republican leaders in Iowa Monday night voted to hold the Iowa presidential caucuses on January 3.
The move gives some certainty to the upended primary calendar, but it's still unclear how New Hampshire will resolve its dispute over voting dates with Nevada.
The primary calendar was thrown off-kilter when the Florida Republican Party decided to move its primary to January 31, even though Republican National Committee rules dictate that only four states are allowed to hold nominating contests before March 6 -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. That set off a scramble among the early-nominating states to move up their primaries.
Nevada set its caucuses for Jan. 14, leaving New Hampshire to consider holding its primary as early as December, since a New Hampshire law that requires the state to hold its first-in-the-nation primary at least seven days before the next nominating contest. Iowa laws, meanwhile, say the state must hold its first-in-the-nation caucuses seven days before any other state's nominating contest, including New Hampshire's (though in 2008, Iowa held its caucuses just five days before the New Hampshire primary).
In a statement, Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn excoriated Florida and Nevada for starting the calendar chaos, the Des Moines Register reports.
"Time remains for Nevada to respect the process, honor tradition and rectify the problem in a way that will restore order to the nomination calendar," he said.
Complete coverage: Campaign 2012
Iowa's January 3 caucus date would make January 10 the logical date for the New Hampshire primary, but New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who is responsible for setting New Hampshire's primary date, has ruled out that option so long as Nevada plans on holding its caucuses on January 14.
New Hampshire is asking the Republican Party of Nevada to move its caucus back to at earliest January 17. In an attempt to exert pressure on Nevada and to keep all of the primaries in 2012, many of the Republican candidates have pledged to boycott the Nevada caucus if the date does not change. The effort started with former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman. Other campaigns have followed suit, including Representative Michele Bachmann, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senator Rick Santorum.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has led in polls in New Hampshire, has not joined the boycott but faces pressure to do so from the Huntsman campaign and the New Hampshire Union Leader op-ed page.