PA Wants More Important Primary, Seeks Earlier Date

HARRISBURG, PA — Renewed efforts are underway to move Pennsylvania's primary election date up by months, making the state a more influential force in the upcoming 2024 Presidential election.

Legislators have discussed for months the merits of changing the date, which is currently slated for April 23, 2024, or the fourth Tuesday of April. Some representatives want it to be held the third Tuesday of March, which is after "super Tuesday" but still early enough in the process to give state voters a significant say.

The state Senate has already passed such a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support. The final vote tally was 45-2.

“Pennsylvania plays a critical role in deciding our nation’s leaders, yet when it comes to the primary election process, Pennsylvanians have little to no say in who the candidates will be in the general election as our primary election is late in the process," state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R-39) said in a statement. "By the time Pennsylvanians have the opportunity to select candidates for the general election, many potentially good candidates have already exited the race due to results in earlier primary states."

As a swing state and the nation's fifth largest state, Pennsylvania has been one of the most critical political battlegrounds in the nation for the past several presidential and midterm election cycles. The current situation makes Pennsylvania "one of the last states in the nation to weigh in despite being a crucial swing state," Philadelphia Democratic State Reps. Malcolm Kenyatta and Jared Solomon wrote earlier this year when such legislation was first brought forth in the General Assembly.

"Usually we're an afterthought in terms of presidential primaries," Christopher Borick, a political science professor and director of Muhlenberg College Institute of Public in Allentown, told Patch.

The state's current primary also falls during Passover, which could impact voter turnout.

Those against the plan to move the date seem to be few in Harrisburg, but some county leaders around the state have voiced concerns that it is too close to the primary to plan for a new date. Some have cited logisitical concerns surrounding planning, facility usage, and volunteer staff.

Perhaps no election cycle better epitomized Pennsylvania's place in the national primary process than in 2020. Early Republican challenges to incumbent President Donald Trump had long since been resolved by the early June date. And the once bitterly contentious Democratic primary between eventual President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders had tilted toward Biden.

The state House is expected to vote on the Senate's bill in the coming weeks.