The Democratic National Committee on Saturday officially removed Iowa and New Hampshire from the status they have enjoyed for decades before becoming the presidential primary, ratifying President Joe Biden’s recommendation for the 2024 calendar.
South Carolina will now start for the Democrats, with Michigan – and potentially Georgia – joining the early states in the biggest shakeup of the presidential primary of the year, while Nevada will be second.
New Hampshire could move on the same day as Nevada if Republican legislators and governors change state law. Georgia, too, needs the cooperation of Republican officials to take advantage of the new slots now available to them.
Republicans are sticking with the traditional roles of Iowa and New Hampshire for the presidential primary in 2024, but Democrats have for years sought to promote a more diverse state.
“This calendar is doing what has been going on for a long time,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison. “It puts Black voters at the forefront of the process in South Carolina. It’s always Nevada, where Latinos have built power… And add Michigan, the heartland, where unions build the middle class of this nation. And Georgia, at the front of the new South.”
“The Democratic Party looks like America,” Harrison added, “And so does this proposal.”
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. when they want.
The party finally exerted the political will to disrupt the status quo after Iowa’s failed 2020 caucus, which delayed results by several days, and as the state shifted to the Republican column.
The calendar is still not final, but now it is up to the countries to change the main date to comply. South Carolina, Nevada and Michigan have codified their position, while others have not.
Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats objected to the new calendar, warning that opening the calendar to change could create chaos by inviting other states to try to shore up and damage Democratic election prospects in their states.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Rita Hart said the Iowa elimination would expose the party to accusations that it is “turning back on Iowa and rural America.”
The thornier problem, however, is New Hampshire, where the state law mandates that the primary continues for the first week before the rest of 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 there will be no solution to the impasse.
However, New Hampshire seems set to go ahead with the state’s first unsanctioned Democratic primary, even if it means the party will lose delegates at next year’s Democratic National Convention and whatever candidate calls its name. The ballot will face severe penalties from the DNC, such as being barred from the school debate stage or losing access to Voter files.
“The DNC is set to punish us despite the fact that we don’t have the ability to unilaterally change state law,” said New Hampshire DNC member Joanne Dowdell. “This is only going to hurt President Biden in our purple war nation.”
Democrats may have someone like Marianne Williamson, the spiritual writer who is running a long-shot presidential campaign in 2020, as the top Democrat on the ballot in New Hampshire’s disapproved primary.
“If President Biden doesn’t take New Hampshire, it could give an opening for an insurgent candidate to run and win the first primary in 2024 – something we don’t want to see in this room,” Dowdell added.
But in a party that is united behind Biden, there is no sympathy for his fate.
“No one state should lock in going first,” said Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell, a member of the DNC from the newly elected state.
Those who spoke about the new calendar received more applause than their colleagues from Iowa or New Hampshire.
“Y’all, for too long, our party’s nominating calendar has not reflected this state,” said Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams, who also chairs the state Democratic Party. “After today, we can proudly say that the votes that have been cast for a long time have been lost.”