NH Pol Toys With Dec. Primary

Granite State election head won't rule out moving up poll

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 12, 2007 10:25 AM CDT

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NH Pol Toys With Dec. Primary — New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner poses in his office at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H. in this Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005, file photo. Gardner is not expected to schedule the state's presidential primary until late next year. By then, presidential hopefuls will have campaigned in the state... (Associated Press)

With upstarts Florida and Michigan threatening to crowd New Hampshire's sacred kickoff primary, the Granite State's secretary of state is shaking campaigns by dangling a December 2007 polling date. Endowed with god-like election powers, Bill Gardner can do whatever he needs in order to make sure candidates pay his tiny state heed. And he's keeping his options wide open.

The Washington Post spent seven hours with Gardner, hoping to sound out the election chief on a possible shift in the New Hampshire polling date. He admits that he has been watching the maneuverings of Michigan, Nevada, and Florida with interest. But as to whether he'll take action, the Post called his answers "brilliantly obtuse." (More Election 2008 stories.)

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