Iowa Democratic Primary Moved to Super Tuesday
New Hampshire still has a chance to keep its place before South Carolina, but it is looking like the latter will be first. Rep. Clyburn will be happy.
The Iowa Democratic primary will no longer be the first in the nation.
The primary will take place on March 5, which is also known as Super Tuesday.
I do not know what South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn has on President Joe Biden, but he only endorsed him after promising to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court.
Then Clyburn influenced Biden to make South Carolina the first state in the primary instead of third.
New Hampshire, which is usually second, could still hold its spot before South Carolina:
Following a plan blessed by President Joe Biden, next year’s nominating calendar will kick off with South Carolina on Feb. 3, followed by Nevada on Feb. 6 and Michigan on Feb. 27. Georgia, which was initially elevated to a top slot, wasn’t able to change its date, due to its Republican-controlled legislature and governor’s mansion. That means Iowa is effectively eliminated from the early-state process, while New Hampshire’s fate is still unclear.
Earlier this year, New Hampshire was granted an extension to mid-October to comply with the DNC’s rules. But the state may be running out of time. The committee is scheduled to discuss the state’s plans at its Friday morning meeting, according to a committee agenda viewed by POLITICO. New Hampshire Democrats, meanwhile, have insisted that, based on state law, they have no choice but to hold a primary set by New Hampshire’s secretary of state, who has pledged to leapfrog any other states.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart thinks Iowa will be first in 2028 when the party has an open Democratic primary.
Hart said officials gave her “a commitment that no state has a guaranteed spot” in 2028.
Scott Brennan, Iowa’s representative to the Rules and Bylaws Committee, was more forceful, saying the state intends to gain back its spot in 2028:
“So we’re here to support the president in 2024, and by releasing the results on March 5, that’s what we’re doing. But all bets are off for 2028.”
Brennan said the nearly two-year-long process has been “messy,” and he hopes the committee “will have a more streamlined and thoughtful process” going forward.
“As we all know, the day after Election Day on 2024, people will be teeing up for 2028,” he said.
Iowa is a caucus state. It had a lot of problems in 2020, leading to results coming in after several days.
The Iowa Democratic Party will use an absentee caucus system in 2024 but has not said how they will tally and announce the results:
No longer will Iowa Democrats gather in person to physically stand and be counted as they tally presidential support on Caucus Day.
Instead, Democrats would register for the Iowa Caucuses and request a presidential preference card beginning Nov. 1. Those cards would be mailed out to participants beginning Jan. 12, 2024, and would functionally work like a mail-in primary ballot.
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Comments
As an Iowa Republican who lives in Iowa, I think this is probably a good thing. You have no idea how screwed up the Democrat Party here is. As Republicans we control all branches of government in Iowa: The governor, the legislator, and the Iowa Supreme Court. All of you stupid always Trumpets here should learn from us how to take control from a purple state and turn it into a red state. Ditch Trump.
Umm…the last winner of the Iowa Republican primary to be president was George W. Bush.
Why should we listen to Iowa again?
Iowa’s job isn’t to pick the winner. Our job is to winnow the field down to a reasonable number. As JR said, the Republican caucuses have been trouble-free compared to the Chinese Goat Rodeo on the Democratic side.
Early primarying is like early voting. A whole bunch of people making decisions that start to stink after a few months on the table, as “favored” candidates falter, sicken, uncloset skeletons, or even die.
Yeah, somebody’s gotta be first, but (just as in a debate) it’s not the preferred position.