Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Gov. Jon Huntsman is lobbying neighboring states to join Utah in a regional presidential primary in 2008, but not everyone is convinced that the contest would draw the attention of all candidates.
"The more states you put in it, the less you're going to see of any of these candidates," said Eddie Mahe, a Washington-based political strategist. "They'll pick a state or maybe two states, and they'll invest all of their resources there."
Utah, Arizona and New Mexico will hold primaries on Feb. 5, 2008. That follows Iowa, New Hampshire South Carolina and Nevada.
Huntsman, a Republican, told participants at the Western Presidential Primary Symposium that Utah will benefit, even with just four of eight states in the region participating early in the presidential sweepstakes.
"We've never before forced the body politic, at least at a presidential level, to get smart about our issues," Huntsman said Friday.
Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson favors an early primary in his state, but said the Legislature thinks the price, estimated at $2 million to $3 million, is too high.
Western states have long complained that candidates have ignored issues important to the region.
"When is it you ever knew a presidential candidate's position on water?" asked New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a possible Democratic candidate.
But others said a regional primary isn't as important as elevating the status of a single Western state.
"This is a pretty small part of the country," said Lance Tarrance, a senior strategist for Straight Talk America, the political-action committee working for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a likely candidate.
"I think there's some star appeal to Colorado," he said, suggesting it could "symbolize a lot of the new West."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
