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A woman exits a polling place after voting began in the Florida Primary election in Deerfield Beach, Florida January 29, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Joe SkipperBy Michael PeltierTALLAHASSEE, Florida | Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:44pm EDT
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida defied national Republican Party leaders on Friday and set its presidential primary election for January 31, a move by the pivotal swing state likely to push forward the 2012 election schedule as other states jockey to maintain their influence.
The four states authorized by the Republican National Committee to go first in the nominating process -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina -- were expected to respond by moving their nominating contests forward from February to early January.
"The arrogance shown by Florida's elected leadership is disappointing, but not surprising," said Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn.
Florida is the largest of the presidential swing states and moved its election forward in order to increase its influence in the process that will eventually produce a Republican nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.
In the process of choosing the presidential nominees for the two major U.S. political parties, candidates compete in primary elections and caucuses at the state level to win delegates who ultimately will pick the nominees in party conventions.
The Republican National Committee has threatened to punish Florida with the loss of half of its delegates to the party's nominating convention, which will be held in Tampa, Florida, in August 2012.
Strawn urged the committee to make good on the threat and punish Florida's "petulant behavior."
Members of Florida's Presidential Preference Primary Date Selection Committee said the added clout from an early primary would offset the loss of delegates to the nominating conventions, which had become little more than "coronations" for outcomes that have already been decided.
"We're the biggest swing state in the union," said former Florida Governor Bob Martinez, a Republican on the panel that set the date. "So, I think this is a real, real election in Florida."
As it stands now, the Iowa caucuses are set for February 6, the New Hampshire primary for February 14, the Nevada caucuses for February 18 and the South Carolina primary for February 28.
Strawn said those states would move their elections and caucuses forward in tandem to maintain their voting order.
(Writing by Jane Sutton, editing by Pascal Fletcher)
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