Washington, D.C., city councilmember Mary Cheh has introduced B19-90, to combine the District of Columbia presidential primary, and the primary for other office, into a single primary. The combined primary would be the second week in June.

Currently, the presidential primary is in January and the primary for other office is in September. The bill has no effect on the independent candidate petition deadlines, which would continue to be in August. Thanks to Josh Putnam for this news.

D.C. is the second jurisdiction which is considering moving its presidential primary to a date that is later than the first week in June. Kentucky has a bill to move the presidential primary to early August. The more places that entertain the idea of a presidential primary later than the first week in June, the more likely it becomes that the Democratic and Republican national committees will re-think their rule that won’t recognize presidential primaries later than the first week in June. In 2012, the Democratic convention doesn’t start until September 3, and the Republican convention doesn’t start until August 27, so it seems irrational to forbid presidential primaries later than the first week in June.