SCGOP: Punish 'Rogue' Florida, Other Line-Jumpers

As expected, the Florida GOP announced on Friday morning it planned to jump the primary line and send Republicans to the polls on Jan. 31.

And as expected, the South Carolina GOP is none too happy about it.

Instead of announcing a date for a first-in-the-South primary on Friday, GOP Chairman Chad Connelly instead called out Florida's GOP as going "rogue" and asked the Republican National Convention to punish any and all line-jumpers.

“Today’s decision by Florida is hugely disappointing and could have been avoided," Connelly said in a statement. "Rogue states have once again dictated the Presidential nominating calendar. I call on my fellow RNC members and all Republicans to strongly condemn Florida’s decision to hold their primary on January 31.

“States who have worked so hard to maintain the nominating calendar should not be penalized and the offenders, including Florida, should lose their entire allocations of delegates at the National Convention. Rules matter and the four traditional early states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina) did everything they could to avoid this unfortunate situation."

There is no word on when South Carolina might announce its plans, but many observers expect the state to vote even earlier in January to keep its early and vital status — a move that would send New Hampshire and Iowa voters to the polls earlier also.

Perhaps as early as this year.

Speaking at  Friday, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley said regardless of the date, the state would still retain its Republican king-maker status.

"They're (Florida) playing a little games with dates, but whatever date South Carolina has, we're still going to come out with the Republican nominee," Haley said. "We have always named the next Republican nominee. We'll do that again this year."

Updated to add information from the governor.