Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022
Did Nevada Democrats ask for but not receive status as the first primary election in the nation?
Nevada Democrats asked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to make the state the party’s first primary in 2024, based on Nevada’s ethnic diversity and battleground status. The DNC has instead proposed South Carolina for its first primary, pending a final vote in early 2023.
Since 1972, the Iowa caucuses were first on the Democrats’ election calendar, but the party decided to make a change after technical difficulties during the state’s 2020 caucuses and because of Iowa’s lack of ethnic diversity.
For 2024, a subcommittee of the DNC has voted to propose a new primary lineup, as suggested by President Joe Biden. South Carolina’s primary would be on Feb. 3, Nevada’s and New Hampshire’s on Feb. 6, Georgia’s on Feb. 13 and Michigan’s on Feb. 27.
Some have speculated that Biden chose South Carolina because the state’s primary changed the trajectory of his presidential campaign in 2020.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Nevada Independent With DNC meeting to propose 2024 presidential primary calendar, all eyes on Nevada
- AP News Iowa caucuses, built on myth, lose place at head of the line
- CNN Democrats vote to move forward with Biden plan to put South Carolina first on 2024 primary calendar
- The Hill Reshuffling the primaries: What it means
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