California bill moves state's primary from June to March

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- California's primary will move from June to early March and leap-frog a number of states' elections, under a bill Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Wednesday.

Senate Bill 568 would move California's primary to the Tuesday after the first Monday in March starting in 2019. California had a June primary in 2016, when only the District of Columbia held a later primary election.

Bill sponsor Sen. Ricardo Lara, a Democrat, said his legislation aimed to give Californians more of a say in how the nation's parties nominate candidates for president. Secretary of State Alex Padilla backed the bill.

"The Golden State will no longer be relegated to last place in the presidential nominating process," Padilla said in a release Wednesday. "California's primary will officially be in prime time. Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country's highest office."

The Los Angeles Times reported that in 2020, California is currently slated to be the fifth state to hold either a primary or caucus -- behind Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

As recently as 2008, the release said, California had its presidential primary in February.