No more Iowa first? Democrats to consider new presidential nominating calendar in December
After delaying the decision earlier this year, a panel of the Democratic National Committee is expected to vote on the order of the presidential nominating calendar and the fate of Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses in early December.
The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet Dec. 1-3 in Washington, D.C., committee member Scott Brennan told the Des Moines Register.
"While we haven’t seen an agenda yet, it is anticipated that there will be discussion and a vote on a proposed calendar," Brennan, a Des Moines attorney, said.
That decision had been slated for this summer, but the committee chose to defer it until after the midterm elections.
Brennan said the full DNC will need to meet in early 2023 to ratify and finalize the decision of the Rules and Bylaws Committee.
The coming December meeting follows nearly a year of hearings and discussion about the Democratic Party's presidential nominating calendar, which traditionally has been led by Iowa's caucuses and then contests in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
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Those early states, and Iowa in particular, historically have wielded outsized political influence as presidential aspirants focus their energy and attention on campaigning there. The contest results winnow the field of contenders and set the stage for widespread voting on Super Tuesday.
For 50 years, Iowa has gone first.
Members of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee have argued that because early-voting states have so much influence, they should be representative of the party in all its diversity. The committee has been weighing whether to re-order the calendar to give greater say to more diverse states.
Democrats are struggling with how to patch together a diverse coalition of voters across a broad range of states that can win future presidential elections.
South Carolina and Nevada are attractive for their diverse voting bases. Michigan and Nevada offer labor-friendly constituencies. Tradition bolsters the case for New Hampshire and Iowa. Minnesota and Georgia, two emerging battleground states, also are in the mix.
The order remains in flux, but it's increasingly clear that Democrats' path to the White House could change dramatically in 2024.
Members have also said they will favor states that are competitive in a general election and states that are able to hold "a fair, transparent and inclusive nominating process."
The proposed changes follow a disastrous 2020 Iowa caucus, when technology failures caused widespread concerns about accuracy and prevented Democrats from declaring a timely winner.
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As the committee decides whether Iowa should continue to hold its traditional lead-off spot on the calendar, many members have said they prefer states that hold primaries, rather than caucuses, because they are more straightforward and inclusive.
Iowa's Democratic leaders have proposed dramatic changes to their caucus process to try to make them look more like primaries, and they have argued that Iowa deserves a place in the early voting window. In total, 16 states and Puerto Rico are vying for the chance to hold an early nominating contest.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, Paste BN