Filing begins: Earlier primary might give N.C. more influence on national stage

The filing period for public office opens Tuesday, and many candidates have already begun announcing their intentions.

The early filing is due to the fact that North Carolina moved its primary from May to March to accommodate the presidential primaries, in hopes that the earlier vote would make the state more relevant in the national selection process. In the past, nominees have already been decided by the time the state held its May primary.

When lawmakers decided to save money and have all races on the March ballot, it forced the filing period to shift from January to December and gave local and state candidates less time to ponder their decisions.

Most probably already knew whether they were going to run or not, but some may have had to push that decision up a bit. Hopefully, it won't affect the outcomes of those races.

Whether the early primary will give North Carolina more of a say in who will be the candidates to head into the fall presidential race is still up in the air. The state will join several others in the March 15 primary -- Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Missouri.

North Carolina, despite its conservative record, is considered a swing state in the presidential race and a coveted prize.

Let's hope that the move to put our state on the presidential map turns out to be good for North Carolina, no matter who voters cast their ballots for. Linking local and state elections to the presidential race can only help bring out more voters to the polls.

Published in Editorials on November 30, 2015 11:43 AM