For the first time since 1972, Democrats may bypass Iowa in the run up to the next presidential race. The Iowa caucuses have been the first test of White House contenders but perhaps no longer. The Washington Post reports President Biden is no fan of the event (he finished fourth in Iowa last time), and as Democrats map out their 2024 calendar, Iowa could be removed from its first in the nation status. One of the big reason was what happened in 202o0, when the state party had a difficult time counting the vote.
Former Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez says Iowa is not representative of America. Perez told the Post, “We need a primary process that is reflective of today’s demographics in the Democratic Party.” Iowa is 93% white. The Post adds:
Others in Biden’s extended orbit have come to similar conclusions about the caucuses, for varied reasons.
“It is not suited to normal people, people that actually have daily lives,” South Carolina State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of that state’s Democratic Party and a longtime Biden ally, said of the caucuses. He described the laborious process of participating, over multiple hours, in person, on a weeknight, as far more restrictive than the requirements of a new voter law in Texas that Democrats universally oppose.
As for possible changes to the 2024 calendar?
Perez has advocated allowing multiple states, possibly including South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire, to vote on the same day, forcing campaigns to split their early campaign resources more broadly in the early parts of their campaign.
As for the last caucus oin 2020, the winner was Pete Buttigieg, who is now Secretary of Transportation under President Biden.