WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is recommending to the Democratic National Committee that South Carolina become the first major state in the 2024 presidential nominating process, with New Hampshire and Nevada following a week later — leaving Iowa out of the early lineup. the Washington Post reported on Thursday night.
Georgia and Michigan will follow next, with Michigan becoming the dominant player in the Midwest under the new calendar Biden has called for, the Post reported.
The DNC was released late Thursday letter from the president sent to members of the DNC's Rules and Regulations Committee, which is scheduled to begin a two-day meeting Friday morning to review the 2024 primary and caucus calendar.
In the letter, Biden does not specify the order in which states should participate in the nomination process. But it emphasizes a much larger early role for states with diverse populations, a quality the panel also said would influence its selection.
South Carolina in the leading role would represent a huge turnaround from the past, when Iowa has attracted months of publicity and candidate spending for its first-in-the-nation community groups.
New Hampshire traditionally held its first primary a week later. Both states have overwhelmingly white populations.
“We must ensure that voters of color have the ability to choose our nominee much earlier in the process and throughout the early period,” Biden wrote to the DNC.
“As I said in February 2020, you can't be the Democratic nominee and win the general election if you don't have overwhelming support from voters of color — and that includes Black, Brown and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.”
He added: “For decades, black voters in particular have been the backbone of the Democratic Party, but they have been pushed to the back of the early primary process. We rely on these voters in elections, but we haven't recognized their importance in our candidate calendar. It's time to stop taking these voters for granted and give them a stronger and earlier voice in the process. “
In a clear jab at Iowa, Biden also said in the letter that “our party should no longer allow caucuses to be part of the nominating process” because caucuses, with their long hours and public scrutiny of of candidate choices, “are inherently anti-participatory. .”
While Democratic leaders have long criticized the caucuses for being inaccessible, criticism increased after the 2020 Iowa caucuses, where technical delays caused delays in reporting. While the results in Iowa and New Hampshire often reflect the future winner of the presidential nominating process, Biden did not win a nominating contest in the 2020 cycle until South Carolina.
Biden added: “I got into politics because of civil rights and the opportunity to change our imperfect union into something better. For fifty years, the first month of the presidential nominating process has been a valuable part of our democratic process, but it is time to update the process for the 21st century.”
He also said that the Rules and Regulations Committee should review the calendar every four years.
New Hampshire Democrats pushed back hard Thursday night against the notion that their position in the lineup would change, pointing out that their state law mandates first in the nation.
“The DNC didn't give New Hampshire its first primary, and it's not up to them to take it away,” said New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Ray Buckley. “This news is obviously disappointing, but we will do the qualifying first. We have survived previous attempts over the decades and we will. Our first-in-the-nation primary has been an integral part of our state's history for more than 100 years and is enshrined in state law.”
In Michigan, state Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said, “We've always said that any road to the White House is through the heart, and President Biden understands that.”
The new 2024 plan would have to be approved by the Rules and Regulations Committee as well as the full DNC.
The commission decided earlier this year to strip traditional leadership positions from Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina and require them to compete with other states for the coveted seats. ,
The committee presentations were heard in June from 16 states and Puerto Rico on why they should hold early contests that could set the course for the nominating cycle. The DNC said it will evaluate states based on their diversity, competitiveness and feasibility.
Robin Opsahl contributed to this report.
