Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum have joined Jon Huntsman in vowing to boycott the Nevada Caucus if its date is not moved to later in January out of deference to the New Hampshire primary.
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who is empowered to set his state’s primary date, would like the Jan. 14 Nevada date changed.
New Hampshire law requires a seven-day buffer between its primary and any similar contest. Moreover, the primary is traditionally held on a Tuesday, something that Gardner has been adamant he will not change. On Wednesday, Gardner threatened to hold the New Hampshire primary in early December in order to preserve its first-in-the-nation status.
“IT’S REALLY UP TO NEVADA,” Gardner wrote in the statement, saying that if Nevada would move its caucus back to Jan. 17, it would make Tuesday, Jan. 10 a possible date for the New Hampshire primary, preventing a December start to the horse race.
Nevada, however, has said it will not move the caucus — despite several candidates now taking up Gardner’s charge.
Huntsman started the trend, and was followed by Santorum and Bachmann. Josh McElveen of WMUR first reported that Santorum and Bachmann would join the boycott on Twitter. Gingrich was the latest to threaten a boycott. (RELATED: Huntsman threatens to boycott Nevada caucus)
“As a citizen, I have always supported New Hampshire’s First in the Nation Primary. Now, as a candidate for president, I am committed to competing in and maintaining the first in the nation status of the New Hampshire primary,” Gingrich said in a statement. “Therefore, I will not compete in a state which holds its contest inside of one week of New Hampshire. I trust Governors Romney and Perry will join me in protecting the New Hampshire primary.”
Romney is unlikely to do so. Romney spokesperson Ryan Williams, responding Wednesday to Gardner’s statement, said that while Romney was committed to New Hampshire retaining its historical status, he would still compete in other states.
“Governor Romney is committed to preserving New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary and the critical role it plays in selecting our Republican nominee,” Williams said in an email. He added, “Governor Romney is also competing in every other nominating contest across the country – whenever they are scheduled.”
Romney is also the front-runner in Nevada, having won the caucus in 2008. He already has an organization in the state, as does Ron Paul. Cain is also reportedly starting to build a Nevada staff.
Josh Putnam, visiting professor at Davidson College, who writes the election blog Frontloading HQ, said that the move by these four candidates “potentially puts the pressure on the other candidates to join suit for fear of hurting themselves in the Granite state. Romney may ignore it but Cain and Perry would be only too happy to boycott Nevada to help themselves in New Hampshire at Romney’s expense. The only conflict there is that Nevada Governor Sandoval has endorsed Perry. It makes it less likely that Perry would boycott the Silver state,” he said.
Gingrich, Huntsman, Santorum and Bachmann, it should be noted, have shown minimal intentions of competing in Nevada in the first place.