S.C. Will Move Primary Election Ahead Of Florida

The primary shuffle continues. After Florida announced last week it would move its nominating contest to Jan. 31, breaking with party tradition, South Carolina, one of the four authorized early primary states, has announced it will move its election to Jan. 21 to maintain its prominence in the nomination process, Reuters reports.

"South Carolina Republicans have a 30-year track record of picking the eventual Republican presidential nominee. We will continue that historic tradition on Jan. 21, 2012," Chad Connelly, the South Carolina Republican Chairman, said in a statement.

The executive director of the state's GOP told Reuters he expected the other early states would do the same. The Nevada Republican Party voted on Saturday to move up its primary, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Like Florida, South Carolina and Nevada will lose half of their delegates at next summer's Republican national convention for violating party rules.