Dems Indicate Cutting Iowa as First Up on 2024 Presidential Calendar

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on Friday did not decide whether to change the primary voting calendar. Still, according to The Washington Post, voting members of the DNC made strong indications that Iowa may lose its status as the first state in the presidential nominating process.

"Now is not a time for us as a party to stand on tradition," Mo Elleithee, a member of the DNC, said, who has had strong reservations against Iowa first-in-the-nation status for presidential elections. "Now is not a time for us as a party to stand on status quo."

Instead, Elleithee proposed a framework wherein the DNC would prioritize states that hold primaries, "demonstrate general election competitiveness," the Post reports, and "are demographically diverse — three qualifications that do not apply to Iowa, where about 90 percent of the population is White."

Also, on Friday, the Des Moines Register reported that a leaked DNC draft proposal, which has caused turmoil within the DNC, indicated that all states would have to reapply for their place in the nominating order. The DNC would favor states who hold "primaries over caucuses and diversity over tradition."

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