This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 27, 2011 - It was, ultimately, the decision of Republican leaders in the state Senate not to act on a bill to move back Missouri's presidential primary, now scheduled for February.
But the Missouri Republican Party wants to make clear it's not happy about the turn of events.
Party leaders confirmed Monday that Missouri is on track by Saturday to be in violation of the national GOP's official rules governing presidential primaries and caucuses. Oct. 1 is the deadline for Missouri to change its primary date and submit its delegate-selection plan to the Republican National Committtee.
Missouri's primary is now scheduled for February. But it must be in March or later to avoid penalties, which could include not seating some Missouri delegates at the Republican presidential convention next summer in Tampa, Fla.
(The national Republican and Democratic parties have determined that the first primaries or caucuses are to be in February 2012 in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Everybody else is to hold their caucuses or primaries in March or later.)
Missouri can't meet the Oct. 1 deadline because the state Senate adjourned Friday and is not scheduled to meet this week -- and there's a question whether the Senate will meet again at all in special session, which technically will continue until early November.
The primary bill was among several measures that the Senate declined to act on, during its feud with the state House over an economic-development package. The House approved the primary bill during the special session's first week.
The Missouri Democratic Party is in the same fix as the GOP, but officials so far have said little.
On Monday, state Republican Party chairman David Cole issued a statement in response to the Beacon's query.
"We are disappointed that the Missouri General Assembly failed to achieve final passage of the presidential primary bill prior to the RNC's deadline to file delegate selection plans, but this is not the end of our fight. The Missouri Republican Party will explore all of our options, and we intend to do everything in our power to make sure that we protect our delegates and Missouri's influence in the national nominating process."
