In a bid by California Democrats to exert greater influence over the next presidential nominating contest, Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed legislation moving the state’s 2020 primary election up three months to March.

Brown signed the bill without comment.

An earlier primary in the nation’s most populous state could re-draw the shape of the 2020 campaign, forcing candidates to compete in a state that has long served as an afterthought in national elections.

California will now hold its presidential primary on March 3, 2020, just after nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Because of the prevalence of early voting in California, the move could see candidates trekking back and forth from the West Coast even before those first nominating contests.