ASHINGTON - Secretary of State William F. Galvin said Massachusetts would not abide by a plan, endorsed by a Republican Party panel yesterday, to move the state's GOP presidential primary in 2004 from March to May.
''We wouldn't do it. We're not going to change our primary,'' Galvin said, adding that he would ''be happy to go to court'' and fight what he calls a discriminatory plan by the GOP to have states with small populations hold their primaries first while delaying voting in large states until late in the season.
Although the so-called Delaware plan was agreed on yesterday by a 36-13 vote of the Republican National Committee's rules panel, the chances of its surviving several more votes - including a final one at the GOP convention in Philadelphia this summer - are slim, Republican sources said yesterday. That's because large states oppose it.
In fact, the question of what to do under the Delaware plan with New Hampshire and Iowa, traditionally first in the nominating process, was deferred on a 22-20 vote by the panel because key Republicans from those states saw no point in arguing about a proposal that, they say, doesn't have a prayer of becoming party policy.
''It's clear the plan will face significant controversy at the convention, if not before, particularly from large states like New York, Ohio, Illinois, California, and Massachusetts, which are all against it,'' said Thomas D. Rath, New Hampshire's GOP committeeman who participated in yesterday's meeting in Indianapolis.
''There is a real question how viable the plan is, so why attach political capital to fighting a plan that will be significantly changed?'' Rath said.
Rath also said he is encouraged by Texas Governor George W. Bush's commitment, restated this week, to New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status. If the primary-calendar issue comes to a big state-small state floor fight in Philadelphia - the last thing Bush wants on national television at the convention meant to convey party harmony - delegates from New Hampshire expect Bush to stand behind that commitment.
Both the Republican and Democratic parties are searching for ways to improve what they say is a primary process so dominated by big states voting early that the nominations get locked up by the first week in March, as was the case this year. This process quickly eliminates candidates who don't have huge war chests.
By allowing small states to hold primaries first, party officials say a greater number of voters will get to participate, and more candidates will stay competitive longer.
Under the Delaware plan, the smallest states would vote no earlier than the first Tuesday in February, and three more groups of states would follow, ending in May. Massachusetts would be in the third group, along with Kentucky, Colorado, Alabama, Louisiana, Arizona, Minnesota, Maryland, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Missouri, Washington, and Indiana.
''History will show the road to reform was begun by Republicans here in Indianapolis,'' said Republican National chairman Jim Nicholson. ''Ironically, in a city famous for its speedway, the GOP has taken a giant step to slow down the primary race to the presidency.''
Republican officials don't doubt the sincerity of former Tennessee senator Bill Brock and his advisory committee in pushing the plan as an important reform. But because it was originally put forward by Basil Battaglia, Delaware's GOP chairman and a foe of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status, some question its true aim.
Rath said he didn't sense hostility toward New Hampshire or Iowa at the rules committee meeting. ''We lived to fight another day,'' Rath said. ''The best thing is, nothing really bad happened.''
Ronald Kaufman, Massachusetts' committeeman, called the Delaware plan controversial and said it could have ''unintended consequences'' if, in fact, a state legislature like that in Massachusetts (which is controlled by Democrats), sets a primary date earlier than GOP rules allowed. In that case, Kaufman said, Republicans might have to hold a presidential caucus or convention, which would shrink, rather enlarge voter participation.
Galvin said he hoped both Republicans and Democrats would consider holding regional primaries and rotating their dates every four years, an idea proposed by the National Association of Secretaries of States' Commission on Presidential Primaries, which he chairs.
The Delaware plan was adopted yesterday under rules that gave each state and territory one vote. Massachusetts opposed it. The plan must be approved by the full Republican National Committee, and then the convention's rules committee, before it reaches the convention floor, where votes are based on the size of state delegations.
GOP officials in California have vowed a floor fight.
A spokesman for Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci said last night that the governor was reserving judgment on the plan until he had studied it.
