Pennsylvania House proposes April 2 for presidential primary, 2 weeks later than Senate wants

By BROOKE SCHULTZ
Associated Press/Report for America

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Most Pennsylvania lawmakers want to move their state’s presidential primary election up from late April. But disagreements arose in the House on Tuesday over whether to embrace a Senate-backed plan that would shift the election to mid-March. A House committee first rejected, but later passed, a bipartisan Senate bill that seeks to hold the election on March 19. That second vote came hours after the committee approved its own bill to move the primary to April 2. Most lawmakers are motivated to move the primary from April 23 to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover and to make it earlier in the primary calendar.