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Voter registration for Tuesday's election is about 700,000 higher than during the last California presidential primary four years ago. In December, statewide registration already had set a record for a presidential primary. The current registration is 15.7 million voters, compared to just more than 15 million for the 2004 primary. The secretary of state's office released the figures on Friday. The registration jump comes after California's presidential primary this year was changed from June to February. The move gives California - for the first time in years - a stake in deciding nominees for the two major political parties. Secretary...

A sign is seen outside a polling station in Nashua, New Hampshire, January 8, 2008. Voters in New Hampshire were casting ballots Tuesday in the nations first U.S. presidential primary election.

SACRAMENTO—California's move toward the front end of the presidential nominating calendar means that for the first time in years, voters could be casting their ballots while the race is still very much in play. Well-funded candidates already are looking to California and the 21 other states voting on Feb. 5, including New York, to save them from potential losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Florida, which votes the week before, also could be important. Rudy Giuliani has embraced this national strategy as a substitute for winning the Republican caucuses in Iowa, where the former New York City mayor's...

San Francisco Republicans reaching out to voters in overwhelmingly Democratic Bay Area districts may sound like a losing strategy for GOP presidential candidates. But supporters of White House hopeful Ron Paul say they know better. They’re taking advantage of a rule change in February’s California GOP primary under which the previous “winner-take-all” system has been replaced by one that awards three primary delegates for every congressional district a candidate wins — no matter how many or how few Republicans live there. “Our primary purpose is to help Ron Paul to get delegate votes in the primary,” said Paul supporter Stephanie...

Local GOP preparing for big choice By: SUNANA BATRA - For the North County Times A frequent commentator on politics, and the manager of John McCain's 2000 campaign for president, Mike Murphy's keynote speech at the Lincoln Club of San Diego County's annual dinner last week was witty, insightful and, at times, cutting. "San Diego has always been the spark plug in California and holds an important role nationally," he said. He spoke of the new ground California will break on Feb. 5, when we will hold our presidential primary. Murphy suggested that since we will have the most compressed...

LOS ANGELES - Republicans in California's heavily Democratic 35th Congressional District are a lonely lot, represented in the House by one of the nation's most liberal members, Maxine Waters. Nonetheless, GOP voters in gritty South Central are being treated like Hollywood celebrities in the presidential primary campaign, despite numbering only 15 percent of the area's registered voters. California Republicans have instituted new rules for awarding delegates to their 2008 national nominating convention, prompting their party's White House hopefuls to pursue a counterintuitive strategy of seeking GOP votes in Democratic strongholds like Waters' district. They're preparing to barrage the relative handful...

<p>For far too long, New York’s presidential primaries have been an insider’s business, with political bosses from both parties deciding whose names went on the ballot. As recently as 2000, it took a lot of arm-wrestling and public outrage for Republicans to even include Senator John McCain, a strong contender that year.</p>

The Republican National Committee has told top California party leaders they can change their voting rules to allow independents to vote in the presidential primary. Party insiders say the change seems unlikely, however, given the GOP's long-standing antipathy to the idea. The issue may come up at the state party convention in September. Changing the rules could help a moderate Republican, such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, especially since California's Feb. 5 primary may come early enough to influence the nominating contest. Democrats already allow independents to vote in their presidential primary, and GOP moderates say they must...

In what is quickly becoming the most ridiculous primary season ever devised by the hand of man, MI and NV have both moved their primary dates up and GA has taken a huge step forward in doing the same.Nevada State GOP officials voted this weekend to move the GOP caucus up to January 19 - the same date as the state Democrat caucus.Michigan State GOP officials voted last weekend to move the GOP primary up to February 5th, but also voted to move it to any date earlier than that if the Democrats should move their primary date before...

Albany (AP) - Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed a bill Monday moving New York's presidential primary to Feb. 5 - a move that could benefit the Democratic and Republican front-runners, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, both New Yorkers. About a dozen other states, including California and New Jersey, have already moved their primaries or caucuses to Feb. 5 or are about to do so. About a dozen more are considering such moves, setting the stage for what is quickly becoming known as "Super-Duper Tuesday" just 22 days after the leadoff Iowa caucuses. "Moving the primary date to February, we will...

No one would have guessed who's lining up behind whom in California's GOP presidential primary contest. It's got lots of people scratching their heads. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, is getting endorsements from key California conservatives despite the fact he is pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights. Bill Simon, a dyed-in-the-wool conservative who ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2002, is selling Giuliani to some of the state's most conservative leaders. Simon worked for Giuliani when he headed the U.S. Attorney's office in New York. The two were eating breakfast together in New York on the morning of...

California did it. Governor Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger signed into law a measure passed by the ultra-liberal California Legislature which moves the Presidential primary to February 5, 2008. Many other States, including New York and Texas, may do so. New Hampshire, the nation's first primary election, is forced now to move its date up a bit so that it retains the status as the kingmaker of American politics. Depending how the New Hampshire Legislature legislates, the Iowa Caucuses may be moved up even earlier. Next thing we know we will all be casting our ballots on the way to church...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York Legislature overwhelmingly approved a measure Wednesday to move the state's presidential primary up to Feb. 5. Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to sign the measure that would put New York with California and a host of other states opting for the new Super Tuesday showdown. The New York primary had been set for March 4, but the earlier date was sought by Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and also supported by Sen. Hillary Clinton. The two New Yorkers lead national polls in the race for the Republican and Democratic presidential...

Odd as it may seem to some, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has actually signed a bill he proposed a few months ago, which moves California’s 2008 Presidential primary from June 3rd to February 5th.

California's move to an early primary in 2008 is likely to give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger greater cachet on the national stage next year, particularly in influencing which Republican is nominated for president. The governor is scheduled to sign a bill today moving the California primary to Feb. 5 next year from June. Even amid the rush of states also moving up their primaries, that puts the Golden State in the center of primary season, rather than serving mainly as a place for candidates to go raise cash. As the most populous state, California sends the most delegates to the conventions...

The California Republican Party is embroiled in controversy over its refusal to allow the fastest growing voter group – independents – to vote in presidential primary elections, even though Democrats do. The dispute pits Republicans who believe the party must preserve partisan purity at all costs against those who contend the party is undermining its long-range viability by stiffing nearly 20 percent of the state's voters when membership in both major political parties in California is at an all-time low. “At the end of the day, this really is an issue of who it is that should be choosing a...

So, what about what’s “hiding” inside what some conservatives have taken to calling “the Trojan Horse primary,” i.e., California’s early presidential primary? It may not be all that fearsome. The great fear on the right is that California’s term limits law would be altered by voters next February 5th, when the state will all but certainly hold Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. (The bill has passed both houses of the Legislature and awaits the signature of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who proposed the idea.) Presumably the right wing fear is that the vote to alter term limits would be unfair, due...

CALIFORNIA WANTS a piece of the Presidential primary action, and it is willing to harm the country to get it. On Tuesday California's legislature approved a bill to move that state's Presidential primary to Feb. 5, placing it just two weeks behind the estimated date for New Hampshire's primary (though New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner will have the final say on that). California is the most populous state. How could moving its primary from June to February hurt the country? It's all about how candidates reach voters. New Hampshire has about 860,000 registered voters. California has about 16...

SACRAMENTO - Riverside and San Bernardino counties are likely to hold four major elections within 12 months if a bill that moves up next year's presidential primary from June to February is signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. The Assembly on Tuesday passed the bill on a party-line vote, 46 to 29, and sent it to the governor for his signature. Schwarzenegger has not taken a formal position on the bill, spokesman Aaron McLear said. But the governor has recently promoted the idea of holding an earlier primary. Proponents, including the Legislature's majority Democrats, said the measure would give the state's nearly...

California lawmakers on Tuesday are expected to move the state's presidential primary from June to February, positioning the state as a compulsory campaign stop for White House contenders. "California has 16 million voters who ought to get a first bite of that apple, not simply be the recipient of other states' legislative and electoral leftovers," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said during a Capitol news conference. The Assembly was scheduled to debate the bill Tuesday afternoon and was expected to pass it on a party-line vote. Republicans, who are in the minority in the 80-seat chamber, oppose the measure...