Maryland Moves Primary, Protecting Iowa's First Status

Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus status is getting a boost from an unlikely source. Maryland lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan plan to push their presidential primary back to April, yielding to national party rules that protect the traditional early voting calendar led by Iowa and New Hampshire.

National Parties Defend Iowa's Traditional Role

The legislation, which enjoys rare bipartisan support in Annapolis, would move Maryland's presidential primary from the second Tuesday in February to the first Tuesday in April. It would also shift the state's primary for local and state offices from mid-September to the last Tuesday in June.

The move comes after national Republican and Democratic parties cracked down on states trying to jump the line in the presidential nominating process. In 2007, Maryland bumped its primary up to February and joined with Virginia and Washington, D.C., to create the so-called