Lawmaker Wants Fla. as Fifth Prez Primary State

Florida’s state Senate President Mike Haridopolos wants his state to hold the fifth-in-the nation presidential primary in 2012, becoming the first large state to help choose a Republican nominee for the White House.

But he said Wednesday that Florida shouldn’t risk sanctions from the GOP by jumping ahead of the four early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

“Our perspective, and I believe Senator [Marco] Rubio shares this perspective, is we’re not looking to go first or second or even third or fourth,” he said.

“Our goal is usually to be number one. We want to be number five. I’m okay with number five. So the idea is, how do we make us number five.”