The Democratic National Committee on Saturday officially stripped Iowa and New Hampshire of the status they held in the presidential primaries for decades, endorsing President Joe Biden’s recommendation for the 2024 calendar.
South Carolina will now cap things off for Democrats, with Michigan – and potentially Georgia – joining the early states in the biggest shakeup of the presidential primary in years, while Nevada will move to second place.
New Hampshire could follow suit on the same day as Nevada if its Republican legislator and governor change state law. Georgia will also need cooperation from Republican officials to take advantage of the new slots now available.
Republicans are sticking to traditional roles for Iowa and New Hampshire for their presidential primary in 2024, but Democrats have been looking to promote more diverse states for years.
“This calendar does what is long overdue,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “It puts black voters in South Carolina at the front of the process. It puts Nevada, where Latinos are building power … And it connects Michigan, the heartland, where unions built this country’s middle class.” Did. And Georgia, at the forefront of The New South.”
“The Democratic Party is what America looks like,” Harrison said, “and it proposes too.”
The new calendar puts South Carolina first on February 3, 2024, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on February 6, then Georgia on February 13 and Michigan on February 27. After that, any state is free to schedule its primary. when they want to.
The party finally mustered the political will to shake up the status quo after Iowa botched its 2020 caucuses, delayed results for several days, and moved the state further into the Republican column.
However, the calendar is still not final, as it is now up to states to change their primary dates to comply. South Carolina, Nevada and Michigan have already codified their position, while others have not.
Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats objected to the new calendar, warning that leaving the calendar open to change could create chaos by inviting other states to defect and hurt Democrats’ electoral prospects in their states.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said that removing Iowa would expose the party to accusations that they have “turned their backs on Iowa and rural America.”
However, the thorny issue is New Hampshire, where a state law mandates that it hold its first primary a week before any other state in the country.
New Hampshire Democrats have asked for more time to try to come up with a solution, but most Democrats say the writing is on the wall and expect no solution to the impasse.
Instead, New Hampshire is likely to proceed with the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary, even if it means the party will lose delegates to next year’s Democratic National Convention and any candidates who put their name on the ballot. would face heavy penalties from the DNC, such as being banned from the debate stages or losing access to voter files.
New Hampshire DNC member Joanne Dowdell said, “The DNC is prepared to punish us despite the fact that we do not have the ability to unilaterally change state law.” “It will only hurt President Biden in our purple battleground state.”
Democrats could end up with someone like spiritual author Marianne Williamson, who is campaigning for the longtime presidency in 2020, as the most prominent Democrat on the ballot in a nonpartisan New Hampshire primary.
“If President Biden doesn’t file for New Hampshire, it could provide an opening for an insurgent candidate to run and win the first primary of 2024 — something no one in this room wants to see,” Dowdell he said.
But in a party united behind Biden, there was little sympathy for his plight.
“No state should have a lock on the first go,” said Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, a DNC member from the newly promoted state.
Those who spoke in favor of the new calendar received far more applause than their colleagues from Iowa or New Hampshire.
Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams, who is also the chair of the state Democratic Party, said, “Y’all, for too long, our party’s nominating calendar has not reflected what this country looks like.” “After today, we can proudly say that we have raised the voices that have been silenced for too long.”
