The California Primary has been moved back to June 5, 2012, due to state financial constraints. The original move to February 5th which would have given California, the country's most populated state and the 5th largest economy in the world, a larger say in the presidential nominating process. "Moving up the primary from June to February gives California the influence it deserves in choosing the next presidential candidates," Schwarzenegger said. In recent years, California has had little to no impact in choosing presidential nominees because of their early date of June when the race is all but over. "Holding presidential primaries in June used to mean nominees were locked before we ever had a chance to vote," Schwarzenegger complained. "Those days are over."
The California Primary has been more of a simple exercise of democracy rather than a meaningful battleground to choose

the nominees for president. This isn't the first time California has moved up its primary in the past. In 1996, the state legislature moved it from June to March 26th. By that time Bob Dole had already beaten back Pat Buchanan’s challenge and the , the race was already over. In 2000, the legislature moved it up to March 7th, putting California on the same day as Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. This time Al Gore already had the Democratic nomination as did George Bush. 2004 was a repeat of California having no say.
The latest move should give California the say they want in the 2008 presidential election, but it may make it very difficult for candidates with low amounts of money to make any head way in the primaries.