(RALEIGH) -- A North Carolina lawmaker has filed a bill that would move the presidential primary to the first Tuesday in March. Bill sponsor Sen. Andrew Brock, R-Davie, said the proposal would give North Carolina a bigger voice in electing each party’s presidential candidate. Current law requires that the primary be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in May.

“When North Carolina was undergoing the massive loss of jobs in textiles, tobacco and furniture; those would have been great issues to present before presidential candidates instead of talking about corn subsidies in Iowa,” said Brock.

Brock added that states such as New Hampshire and Iowa seem to have a much different perspective because of primaries held much earlier than North Carolina. “They expect presidential candidates to come knocking on their door to ask for their vote and for them to have input on the selection of the president. For us, it’s just maybe a commercial we’ll see or maybe we’ll see them driving to a fundraiser. We don’t have that kind of input.”

Brock acknowledged the cost of holding an additional election. However, he said that expense would easily be offset by the positive economic impact of moving the primary forward.