Colorado’s presidential caucuses would be moved from March to February in hopes of attracting more candidates to the state under a bill nearing final legislative passage.
The Senate tentatively approved the caucus change Thursday, over objections from critics that it would cause confusion and decrease participation.
Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, said moving the caucuses from the third Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February every four years would force campaigns to start raising money at Christmastime.
“That’s the last thing on people’s minds during the holidays,” she said.
Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, noted that the change would hurt rural Coloradans’ ability to attend caucuses because they would overlap with schools’ wrestling and basketball playoffs, times when families do a lot of traveling.
“That will leave them unable to participate,” he said.
Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany and Senate President pro tem Peter Groff said the bill would just cause confusion without attracting presidential candidates because they will be busy in bigger states such as California, Florida and New York, which have a lot more convention delegates.
“I don’t think we’re going to get the bang for the buck that we have been promised on this,” Groff said.
Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, agreed that there is an “irrational” race among states to move their primaries, “but this is the world we live in.”
Without the bill, he said, “we are irrelevant in picking the president.”
The bill must go back to the House for concurrence on a Senate amendment before going to the governor.
