AP/Hunter
02/04/23
Democrats are poised to reorder their presidential primary schedule beginning next year, replacing Iowa with South Carolina in the leadoff spot as part of a major overhaul meant to empower Black and other minority voters critical to the party’s base of support.
The Democratic National Committee has worked for months to revamp the start of its voting calendar, and the full membership is set to vote on the plan today.
The proposal has been championed by President Joe Biden and would have South Carolina hold its primary on Feb. 3. That would be followed three days later by New Hampshire and Nevada. Nevada is swapping the caucus it used to hold in favor of a primary. Georgia would vote fourth on Feb. 13, followed by Michigan on Feb. 27, with much of the rest of the nation set to vote on Super Tuesday in early March.
The move marks a major shift from the current calendar, which had started with Iowa’s caucuses for the last five decades, followed by New Hampshire’s primary and subsequent contests in Nevada and South Carolina.
Last month, then-Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, asking them to rethink removing Iowa from its first in the nation status. He pointed out that the Midwest is completely ignored in the early window.
Iowa Democrats say they have to follow state law requiring them to hold their caucus first; however, the DNC says if they go against the proposed running order, it will lose half of its delegates to the national convention and will punish Democratic candidates who campaign in Iowa instead of the early-window states.