Introducing SSP’s 2010 Sortable Filing Deadline & Primary Calendar

Click here (and bookmark) this incredibly valuable tool. It’s the Swing State Project’s sortable calendar of filing deadlines, primary dates, and, where applicable, runoff dates in all fifty states. Very useful – try it! (We’ll also permalink it in the right-hand sidebar under “SSP Resources.”)

I also wanted to take this opportunity to ask: which states have party conventions instead of or in addition to primaries, and how do they each work? I know, for instance, that Minnesota, Connecticut and Utah all have conventions, but their effects on ballot access differ somewhat from one another. Convention experts, please enlighten us.

2010 Sortable Congressional Filing Deadline & Primary Calendar

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State Filing Deadline Primary Run-Off
Alabama 4/2/10 6/1/10 7/13/10
Alaska 6/1/10 8/24/10
Arizona 5/26/10 8/24/10
Arkansas 3/8/10 5/18/10 6/8/10
California 3/12/10 6/8/10
Colorado 5/27/10 8/10/10
Connecticut 5/25/10 8/10/10
Delaware 7/30/10 9/14/10
Florida 4/30/10 8/24/10
Georgia 4/30/10 7/20/10 8/10/10
Hawaii 7/20/10 9/18/10
Idaho 3/19/10 5/25/10
Illinois 11/2/09 2/2/10
Indiana 2/16/10 5/4/10
Iowa 3/19/10 6/8/10
Kansas 6/10/10 8/3/10
Kentucky 1/26/10 5/18/10
Louisiana 7/9/10 8/28/10 10/2/10
Maine 3/15/10 6/8/10
Maryland 7/6/10 9/14/10
Massachusetts 6/1/10 9/14/10
Michigan 5/11/10 8/3/10
Minnesota 6/1/10 8/10/10
Mississippi 3/1/10 6/1/10 6/22/10
Missouri 3/30/10 8/3/10
Montana 3/15/10 6/8/10
Nebraska 3/1/10 5/11/10
Nevada 3/12/10 6/8/10
New Hampshire 6/11/10 9/14/10
New Jersey 4/12/10 6/8/10
New Mexico 2/9/10 6/1/10
New York 7/15/10 9/14/10
North Carolina 2/26/10 5/4/10 6/22/10
North Dakota 4/9/10 6/8/10
Ohio 2/18/10 5/4/10
Oklahoma 6/9/10 7/27/10 8/24/10
Oregon 3/9/10 5/18/10
Pennsylvania 3/9/10 5/18/10
Rhode Island 6/30/10 9/14/10
South Carolina 3/30/10 6/8/10 6/22/10
South Dakota 3/30/10 6/8/10 6/29/10
Tennessee 4/1/10 8/5/10
Texas 1/4/10 3/2/10 4/13/10
Utah 3/19/10 6/22/10
Vermont 6/17/10 8/24/10
Virginia 4/9/10 6/8/10
Washington 6/11/10 8/17/10
West Virginia 1/30/10 5/11/10
Wisconsin 7/13/10 9/14/10
Wyoming 5/28/10 8/17/10

Source: FEC (PDF)

Upcoming Filing Deadlines

The following states still have upcoming filing deadlines:

State Deadline
Florida 5/2/2008
Georgia 5/2/2008
Michigan 5/13/2008
Nevada 5/16/2008
Connecticut 5/24/2008
Colorado 5/29/2008
Wyoming 5/30/2008
Alaska 6/2/2008
Massachusetts 6/3/2008
Arizona 6/4/2008
Oklahoma 6/4/2008
Washington 6/6/2008
Kansas 6/10/2008
New Hampshire 6/13/2008
Rhode Island 6/25/2008
Wisconsin 7/8/2008
Louisiana 7/11/2008
Minnesota 7/15/2008
New York 7/17/2008
Vermont 7/21/2008
Hawaii 7/22/2008
Delaware 7/25/2008

The thing is, at least on the federal level, there aren’t too many interesting seats left to fill. Also, it’s getting awfully late. Last cycle, almost every plausibly competitive challenger had filed by now. One of the few who did not, Dave Mejias in NY-03 on Long Island, gave Peter King his toughest re-election fight ever, but was hampered by his late start. Mejias didn’t get in until late May, but that was only because another candidate, David Denenberg, himself entered late and then dropped out just two days after announcing.

Disappointingly, NY-03 appears to be without a candidate deep into the season once more. I’d hate to give King a free ride. In any event, are there any other unfilled races in the states on this list that you think we might have any kind of shot at?

Upcoming Filing Deadlines

The federal filing deadline in Illinois, which has the earliest congressional primary in the nation, has already passed. The second-earliest primary is in Maryland, and their deadline is coming up in just a week. Here’s a look at the deadlines looming over the next couple months:























State Deadline
Maryland 12/03/07
Texas 01/02/08
Ohio 01/04/08
Mississippi 01/11/08
West Virginia 01/26/08
Kentucky 01/29/08

You can find SSP’s complete, sortable calendar of all filing deadlines and primary dates at this link.

Introducing Our Sortable Congressional Filing Deadline & Primary Calendar

Follow this link for a cool new SSP feature: a sortable calendar containing congressional filing deadlines, primary dates and run-off dates. The best part is that you can click on the column headers to re-arrange the list. So you can view things alphabetically by state, or chronologically by filing deadline or primary date.

We’ve drawn on data collected by the FEC (PDF), so it should be accurate. But if you notice anything that looks amiss, kindly let us know. Please note, though, that the SSP calendar does not contain presidential data. The FEC file does have that information, and the Green Papers does an admirable job of keeping up-to-date with the constantly shifting presidential primary calendar.

In any event, please check out our calendar and let us know if it works for you. I’ve tried it successfully in both Firefox and IE for Windows, but not on a Mac. Just make sure you have JavaScript enabled. We’ll also place a permalink to it in our new “Resources” section on the right-hand sidebar. (Look just below the “About the Site” section.)  Thanks, and enjoy!

2008 Sortable Congressional Filing Deadlines & Primary Dates

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State Filing Deadline Primary Run-Off
Alabama 04/04/08 06/03/08 07/15/08
Alaska 06/02/08 08/26/08
Arizona 06/04/08 09/02/08
Arkansas 03/10/08 05/20/08 06/10/08
California 03/07/08 06/03/08
Colorado 05/29/08 08/12/08
Connecticut † 05/24/08 08/12/08
Delaware 07/25/08 09/09/08
Florida 05/02/08 08/26/08
Georgia 05/02/08 07/15/08 08/05/08
Hawaii 07/22/08 09/20/08
Idaho 03/21/08 05/27/08
Illinois 11/05/07 02/05/08
Indiana 02/22/08 05/06/08
Iowa 03/14/08 06/03/08
Kansas 06/10/08 08/05/08
Kentucky 01/29/08 05/20/08
Louisiana * 07/11/08 10/04/08 11/04/08
Maine 03/15/08 06/10/08
Maryland 12/03/07 02/12/08
Massachusetts 06/03/08 09/16/08
Michigan 05/13/08 08/05/08
Minnesota ‡ 07/15/08 09/09/08
Mississippi 01/11/08 03/11/08 04/01/08
Missouri 03/25/08 08/05/08
Montana 03/20/08 06/03/08
Nebraska 03/03/08 05/13/08
Nevada 05/16/08 08/12/08
New Hampshire 06/13/08 09/09/08
New Jersey 04/07/08 06/03/08
New Mexico 02/12/08 06/03/08
New York 07/10/08 09/09/08
North Carolina 02/29/08 05/06/08 06/24/08
North Dakota 04/11/08 06/10/08
Ohio 01/04/08 03/04/08
Oklahoma 06/04/08 07/29/08 08/26/08
Oregon 03/11/08 05/20/08
Pennsylvania 02/12/08 04/22/08
Rhode Island 06/25/08 09/09/08
South Carolina 03/31/08 06/10/08 06/24/08
South Dakota 03/25/08 06/03/08 06/17/08
Tennessee 04/03/08 08/07/08
Texas 01/02/08 03/04/08 04/08/08
Utah 03/17/08 06/24/08
Vermont 07/21/08 09/09/08
Virginia § 04/11/08 06/10/08
Washington 06/06/08 08/19/08
West Virginia 01/26/08 05/13/08
Wisconsin 07/08/08 09/09/08
Wyoming 05/30/08 08/19/08

† Connecticut’s filing deadline is fourteen days after state party conventions are held. The Democratic convention was held on May 10, 2008. The Connecticut Republican Party did not hold a statewide convention this year, but did hold individual congressional district conventions, also on May 10, 2008.

‡ Minnesota Democrats held individual congressional district conventions throughout April and May and held a state convention June 6-8, 2008. Traditionally, the party endorses candidates at these conventions. These endorsees become all-but-official nominees, usually rendering the primary a mere formality.

§ The Virginia Republican Party chose to nominate its Senate candidate via convention rather than via primary election.

* Due to Hurricane Gustav, Louisiana moved its primary from Sept. 6, 2008 to Oct. 4, 2008. Run-offs for LA-02 and LA-04 will be held on Nov. 4th and the general election for those races will be held on Dec. 6th. All other races will conduct normal general elections on Nov. 4th.

Note: Sorting by runoff date is not available.

Source: FEC.gov (PDF) (p. 3-4).