With new law, N.H. moves to protect primary

By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, June 30, 1999

CONCORD, N.H. -- You can chisel it in granite: New Hampshire will hold the first presidential primary for the 2000 election.

Trying to scare off any threats to New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary status, Governor Jeanne Shaheen signed into law yesterday a bill that would allow the state's 2000 presidential primary to be held as early as 1999. In fact, the law allows the vote to be held any time this year.

"We're committed to making sure we remain a week before any other state," said Shaheen, a Democrat. She said the law is necessary because many states are trying to move up their primaries.

Months before any votes will be cast, the Granite State is in a heated competition with other states trying to establish a foothold -- and magnify their influence -- early in the presidential nominating process.

About half the states, representing three-fourths of party convention delegates, will hold primaries and caucuses between the end of January and March 14. This so-called front-loading has resulted in an early intensity to campaigning, organizing, and fund-raising because the Republican and Democratic nominations are likely to be locked up within a one-month period next year.

New Hampshire law used to require Secretary of State William Gardner to set the date of the primary at least seven days prior to any other state's primary. The new law would allow him to set that date as early as the year before the general presidential election.

So far, Gardner has not set a date for New Hampshire's 2000 primary. Iowa state law, meanwhile, requires the Iowa caucuses to be held eight days before New Hampshire's primary. Recently, New Hampshire's primary has fallen sometime in February of the election year.

Besides passing legislation, New Hampshire lawmakers have tried other avenues to protect the primary. For example, a bipartisan group has urged presidential candidates to sign a pledge promising not to campaign in states that hold their primary within seven days of New Hampshire's.

Eight candidates have signed that pledge: Patrick J. Buchanan, George W. Bush, Bill Bradley, Elizabeth Dole, Al Gore, John Kasich, John McCain, and Bob Smith. Five others have not signed: Lamar Alexander, Gary Bauer, Steve Forbes, Alan Keyes, and Dan Quayle.

Dean Spiliotes, a government professor at Dartmouth College, said the state's latest effort to maintain its influence and position borders on the ridiculous.

"It's in danger of becoming absurd," Spiliotes said. "It's clear that other states are no longer intimidated about moving their primaries up."

But Hugh Gregg, the former Republican governor, said no one seriously intends to hold the primary in the year before the general election.

"The only reason we did that was to let the country know, and particularly Delaware, that we're not fooling around," he said. "Nobody has any conceivable thought that that's going to happen, but it made a point and that's what we intended to do."

The primary is worth millions of dollars in revenue to the state as candidates and journalists trek through its hotels and restaurants. Besides the money, there is an intangible prestige factor for the Granite State.

However, advocates of the first primary say New Hampshire is one of the few places in the country where candidates are measured in one-on-one meetings with the voters, rather than through 30-second television advertising buys.

"The issue is not just that we're first," said Shaheen. "We're a place where candidates don't need the establishment behind them or need to spend millions of dollars."

New Hampshire officials attribute part of their predicament to the Republican National Committee for not forbidding states from holding their Republican primaries too close to New Hampshire's. The Democratic National Committee, on the other hand, has refused to grant waivers to states that wish to move their primaries within seven days of New Hampshire.

William Galvin, secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is pushing states to adopt a rotating regional primary schedule that would give all states an opportunity to hold their primary early. His plan, however, would exempt Iowa and New Hampshire from the rotation, allowing them to continue to be first.

"Everyone today feels this is a disaster," said Galvin, who is meeting in St. Louis with members of the National Association of Secretaries of State's committee on presidential primaries. "It's chaos, it's chaos."

The calendar of primaries and caucuses will largely be settled tomorrow, the RNC deadline for states to notify the party of when it will hold its election. But Galvin said it is clear that most states have moved up their primaries in order to gain influence, even though most voters are unlikely to be interested so early in the process. The New Hampshire law reflects the absurdity of the situation, he said.