Legally Set Minimum Date for Primaries/Entries to be Able to Start?

[Free Bird]

John Delaney starting an actual serious presidential bid 2.5 years before the primaries start got me thinking about this. Should the FEC create a regulation saying that the primaries must start on X or Y date and that people can only enter the race starting after X or Y date? For example, the Iowa Caucus, being the first contest, can be no earlier or later than the first Tuesday in February, and candidates can only start officially declaring in September? I made this a question involving the primaries too because there still needs to be a reasonable amount of time to campaign for the contests, but I still don't think that 9 months to a year is necessary.

Would this be too detrimental to the process? Make things too difficult? Almost all other major races, like those for Governor or Senate, start around this time organically, with some even declaring in January or February.

I used to think that candidates declared right before the primaries, like Nixon in 68, because they were more limited and selective then, and that late entries hurt obscure candidates. But then I remembered that Clinton only had 4 months to become known in New Hampshire, having declared in October of 91. So why have candidates taken to declaring, on average, in the spring before the contests start?

Reposted due to accidental posting in the wrong board

[OSR stands with Israel]

Problem is the media more than anything for holding debates as early as they do . Even if you implement this rule, candidates will still unofficially declare, start campaigning and the media will hold debates and town halls.

[CookieDamage]

Well primaries are still held to this minimum date. Have we ever had a primary held in the preceding year?

The issue is that of campaigning and media races. As OSR said, candidates will, as they are now, unofficially campaign via news appearances, public speeches, visiting states across the country, and generally taking steps to boos their visibility. It's hard to legislate all that stuff as being against campaign rules.

Yes, we can make a law that says the primaries will be held over April and candidates can only announce in March and the debates will only be held in March as well, with the general being held in May. However, that won't stop candidates from unofficially campaigning as early as 2 years prior if they so wished.

[muon2]

Let's first assume that Congress has authorized the FEC to set such a rule. Here are some questions off the top of my head that would have to be resolved.

1) Would it actually do anything to address the issue? As noted above there's nothing to stop a person from making appearances in states of interest to attract supporters and media attention even if such a rule is in place.

2) What happens to the exploratory committee? This is a formal entity recorded with FEC that allows expenditures of over a certain amount towards a candidacy without a full fundraising and reporting operation.

3) What would be the role of individual states to set ballot access dates? The dates of individual state primaries have little to do with the filing dates to get access to the primaries and caucuses in each state. Those dates often tie to other non-federal races on the same ballot.

4) What would be the role of parties, including minor parties? Presidential candidates are selected by parties, not directly at the ballot. A candidate could lobby party activists for consideration well in advance of an official start date in a way that is indistinguishable from 1st amendment protected speech.

5) How would the rule impact perennial candidates? Consider a young rising star that is planning ahead. That candidate enters in one presidential cycle after the start date, but drops out of the running after a couple of primaries, never intending to go all the way. The next cycle that same politician jumps in with a better operation and message than their rivals thanks to the effectively 4-year head start.

[SteveRogers]

You can’t legally prohibit candidates from declaring their intent to run for office, so no, the FEC should not do that.