RNC Rules Committee passes important rule amendment that would end penalties against early primary states that move their primaries in response to other states

Scottsdale, Arizona- In today’s meeting of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Rules Committee, national Republican Party members passed an amendment protecting future South Carolina Republican Presidential Primaries. The amendment will be up for consideration at the full Republican National Convention in August.

South Carolina’s Republican National Committeeman, Glenn McCall, is a member of the RNC Rules Committee. South Carolina’s other RNC members, SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly and National Committeewoman Cindy Costa, also attended the Rules Committee meeting.

“It is an honor to work on behalf of South Carolina Republicans to protect our historic ‘First in the South’ primary, and we will continue to do so at the National Convention,” said Cindy Costa. “South Carolina Republicans should all be extremely proud of Glenn McCall’s leadership on the Rules Committee. We are 100% committed to working together to protect South Carolina.”

The proposed new RNC rule amendment would allow the four traditional “carve out” states, South Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, to without penalty move their presidential selection contests to up to one month before non-“carve out” states.

The South Carolina delegation persuasively lobbied RNC Rules Committee members to protect against the unintended consequences that occurred under the old rule.

In 2011, Florida’s nine-member Presidential Preference Primary Committee moved the state’s primary ahead of the traditional early states, setting off a chain reaction that moved early state presidential contests into January 2012  –  where under existing RNC rules, the states were penalized by losing half of their National Convention delegates.

At the time, SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly said Florida’s nine person commission “brought chaos” to the presidential nominating calendar.

Link: http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/south-carolina-jumps-ahead-florida-primary-shuffle

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