The DNC has revealed a new primary calendar that puts the South Carolina primary ahead of New Hampshire and kicks Iowa out of the early season altogether.
On Saturday, the DNC voted to make South Carolina, a state that overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic primaries, the first presidential primary of 2024.
South Carolina will hold their primary on February 3, with New Hampshire, the traditional first primary, voting along with Nevada on February 6. The move was backed by Biden, and some have speculated it may indicate the extent of the Democratic Party’s loyalty to the White House.
Iowa, which holds caucuses, and usually takes place before every other state, won’t even be in the early primary window, with Georgia and Michigan, considered new battleground states, placed further ahead of it.
The new calendar change was supported by a letter from Biden in December to the Rules & Bylaw’s Committee, saying it was “time” for the primary process to be updated “for the 21st century.” Jamie Harrison, the DNC Chair said the calender change “expands the number of voices that can be heard. Women and diverse communities are at the core of the Democratic party.”
Image: Gage Skidmore
However, both New Hampshire and Iowa have legislation on their books that requires both states to be the first presidential nomination of their type in the cycle, with New Hampshire having passed their legislation in 1972, after holding the first primary every year since 1920.
Ray Buckley, the New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair said that they would work together with the DNC “in good faith”,” but talked “openly” about the consequences of New Hampshire holding its primary ahead of its now scheduled time, including the loss of 2024 delegates.
Joanne Dowdell, who serves as a DNC committewoman, even suggested that Biden could be barred from filing re-election in the state, which could “provide an opening to an insurgent candidate to rise in the state and potentially win the first presidential primary of 2024, something that no one in this room wants to see.”
“Joe Biden and the power brokers at the DNC in Washington think New Hampshire’s time is up, but it’s not in our DNA to take orders from Washington,” tweeted New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu on Saturday. “New Hampshire will be going first in 2024.”
Joe Biden and the power brokers at the @DNC in Washington think New Hampshire’s time is up, but it’s not in our DNA to take orders from Washington.
New Hampshire will be going first in 2024. https://t.co/9D8TOQ7swq— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) February 4, 2023
In Iowa, the reaction from Democrats to the change from the DNC was just as frosty as in New Hampshire. “As a farmer who lives near Wheatland, Iowa, a town of around 800 people, it is vital that small rural states like Iowa have a voice in our Presidential nominating process,” said Rita Hart, the Iowa Democrat Chair.
“Democrats cannot forget about entire groups of voters in the heart of the Midwest without doing significant damage to the party,” she continued, adding that a lack of Democrat candidates in the state could allow Iowa “to be flooded with Republican hopefuls sharing their damaging message to every corner of our state.”
With the Iowa legislature controlled by Republicans, and the Republican National Committee also saying that they would not change their date, the Iowa Democrats have been left in a difficult position when it comes to not falling foul of the legislation designed to put them first in the season.
