By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services/East Valley Tribune
A Republican state lawmaker wants to be sure Arizonans actually have a real voice in deciding who will run for president in 2016.
Legislation crafted by Rep. Phil Lovas of Peoria would automatically set the date for the state’s presidential preference primary on the same day of the Iowa political caucus. That would force the Hawkeye State to share its current billing as the first political event of the season equally with the Grand Canyon State.
And it would not matter if Iowa tried to change its date in a bid to remain first: HB 2017 would have Arizona follow suit, automatically.
Lovas said the presidential field in his own Republican party started off with a broad set of choices: Nine contenders participated in Iowa’s caucus just a year ago today.
By the time of Arizona’s Feb. 28 primary, not only Iowa had weighed in but so had voters in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri and Maine. And the field had been pared to just four.
