Wyman wants presidential tally in March

Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman is gathering Republican and Democratic leaders to potentially change the date of the state’s presidential primary.

Wyman wants to move the date of the primary to March to make it more meaningful and give Washingtonians a voice.

“We want to be a player,” she said. “… To try to attract presidential candidates to come to Washington.”

An effort to change the primary date and make other modifications during this year’s legislative session was unsuccessful. Wyman’s proposed reform passed the Senate, but it didn’t make it through the House.

“While I liked all of the reforms, … I was hoping we could at least get the date moved,” she said. “Because I think that’s probably the single most important feature. ... You want it to be in the middle of that process when people are engaged and the media is covering it and it’s kind of high on people’s awareness.”

Under state law, a committee can recommend a date to the secretary of state, Wyman said. The nine-member committee is made up of Wyman, the leaders of the Democratic and Republican caucuses, and the chair and vice chair of both parties’ committees.

“Hopefully we can get six of the nine to agree to an alternate date, and I have proposed March 8,” she said.

The meeting of the committee likely will be in mid-August with a recommendation by mid-September and a date set by mid-October, Wyman said.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Wyman wants presidential tally in March."