By Illinois Radio Network/Greg Bishop
SPRINGFIELD – With the debacle of the Iowa caucuses fresh in the minds of Illinois politicians, there’s bipartisan support to make the Land of Lincoln the first-in-the-nation primary. But that’s still just an idea at this point.
Iowa Democratic Party officials say the delay in getting results from the first-in-the-nation caucuses Monday was because of a computer error. Regardless, it threw the primary process into disarray.
Illinois state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said Illinois should be first instead.
“So put the complicated caucus system behind us,” Manar said. “Let’s find a state that’s more representative of the country as a whole and Illinois I think on all accounts is that state.
Illinois’ population is culturally diverse and the state features not just major metropolitan areas but also rural areas.
State Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, said moving Illinois up in the national process may be worth looking at.
“That might be something to consider,” Severin said. “But I tell you what else is encouraging to me is the state of Illinois finally is not the worst debacle in the United States. Iowa just took over.”
Illinois’ primary this year is March 17. Early voting begins Thursday.
The state moved the primary up to the first Tuesday of February in 2008 when Barack Obama was running in the Democratic primary. He was an Illinois U.S. senator and a former Illinois state senator. But Illinois moved the primary back to March in 2012.
Manar said he is researching what it will take to move Illinois up in the national process.
“It’s my understanding there’s a penalty for any state in terms of awarding delegates that go before Iowa and New Hampshire, I believe,” Manar said. “That’s the deterrence.”
He said there may have to be some coordination between state law and private party rules to bump Illinois up.
While he says it’s an idea worth considering, Severin said Illinois has its own election issues to deal with, like the errors in Illinois Automatic Voter Registration Program.
“We have got to get AVR correct,” Severin said. “Let’s be accurate to a fault rather than having it be a fault.”
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