The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to send
a letter to California’s lawmakers insisting the state pick up the
election tab if the presidential primary is moved from June to
February.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to send a letter to California’s lawmakers insisting the state pick up the election tab if the presidential primary is moved from June to February.
We are all for moving the California primary from June to February, but we agree with the supervisors that the state should foot the county’s election bill if counties are still required to hold a separate June primary for state and local offices.
Holding the presidential primary election in February would mean the county would have to shell out an extra $150,000 to $200,000 to hold three elections next year. That’s a lot of local money that could be better spent elsewhere.
A Feb. 5 vote – the earliest date the state can choose under national party rules – would place California’s primary at the beginning of the election season. This would give California, the most populous state in the union, more influence in choosing presidential candidates. As we have said before, we support moving the primary to February.
While discussing the presidential primary this week, San Benito County Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz pointed out that “California has been an ATM machine for presidential candidates” for too long. We agree. Because our state’s June presidential primary occurs so late in the primary season, candidates don’t give much attention to California voters or the issues that matter most to them. They raise money here, but spend that money in other states, like Iowa and New Hampshire.
Moving the primary to February could bring a lot of presidential campaign dollars to our state, but little of that money will filter down to San Benito County.
The Free Lance previously supported putting all of California’s state and local primaries in line with the presidential vote in February. However, the legislation authorizing the change, as it is written, won’t allow this. Therefore, we believe equitable thing to do is to have the state foot the bill for the presidential primary.
Small counties such as San Benito can’t afford to pay for three elections next year. The $150,000 or $200,000 we would have to spend on the February presidential primary could be better spent locally on things like roads, parks and public safety.
San Benito County doesn’t get much money from the state. And moving the presidential primary to February isn’t going to bring more money to our county.
The state Senate voted earlier this month to move the primary to Feb. 5 and the Assembly will be considering a similar bill in the coming weeks.
Legislators should move the primary. However, we hope legislators like local Assemblywoman Anna Caballero don’t forget about San Benito County when they casts their ballot on this important issue. We hope they think about how much this will cost a small county that has a tough time getting the state to fund local projects important to our residents.
