N.Y. bill would move presidential primaries to Super Tuesday

Two New York state lawmakers announced legislation Wednesday aimed to move New York’s presidential primaries in 2028 to Super Tuesday, traditionally the biggest day nationwide for primary elections and caucuses before Election Day in November.

The argument behind the legislation, pushed by two Democrats – state Sen. James Skoufis and Assemblymember Landon Dais – is New York’s waning importance in the presidential nomination process in recent years. New York’s presidential primaries have been held in April for three of the last four cycles — with 2020 taking place during the state’s regular primaries in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic — long after Super Tuesday’s contests which are generally very determinative of who wins the nominations.

With the exception of 2016, the nominations were largely or totally wrapped up by the time New York gets to vote. In 2024, for instance, then-President Joe Biden and Donald Trump didn’t have the necessary number of delegates to clinch their individual nominations, but had no actively campaigning opponents by that point. In 2008, New York’s primaries took place on Super Tuesday, which that year was in February but is traditionally the first Tuesday in March.

“Despite our population’s size, economic and cultural importance, and deep diversity, New York’s role in picking our nation’s presidential nominees has been relegated to the sidelines by a primary date that arrives too late to matter,” state Skoufis said in a statement. “No more. With this bill, our votes will count. Moving our primary date to Super Tuesday guarantees New Yorkers a real voice in deciding our next President, not just our donors but our voters, our students, our working families, and our small business owners from Brooklyn to Buffalo.”

States like California, Texas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia have been regular Super Tuesday participants as of late.

“We are determined to make sure New York takes its rightful place at the forefront of the electoral process. By fixing our primary to one of the nation’s biggest election days, we can give every New Yorker the opportunity to help select the next President and ensure our communities count where it matters most,” Dais said in a statement.

New York’s late primary calendar has been scrutinized before. In 2019, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo briefly made a push to set the 2020 primaries in February instead of April.