Missouri Moves Its Presidential Primary to March

Missouri is moving its presidential primary back a month to comply with national Republican and Democratic party guidelines that discourage most states from trying to jump to the front of the 2016 presidential selection process.

 

Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation Wednesday that will set Missouri's presidential primary on March 15 instead of Feb. 2.

 

The six-week delay will still place Missouri in the earlier portion of a compressed primary schedule and is the soonest the state could hold its vote without incurring penalties from the Republican National Committee.

 

The new law seeks to avoid a repeat of 2012, when Missouri's February primary conflicted with similar GOP guidelines and thus was transformed into a non-binding election that was ignored by the eventual Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.