DES MOINES, Iowa (WHO) — The Iowa Caucus has led the nation’s voting calendar for every presidential election since 1976. However, the Democratic National Committee looks poised to take Iowa out of its prized position.
According to NBC News, South Carolina will likely lead off the presidential election calendar in 2024, with New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan filling out the rest of the top five spots. That proposed order leaves Iowa on the outside looking in.
The order will likely be finalized during Friday’s meeting of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee.
As reports surfaced about the proposed primary order, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn responded with heavy criticism.
In a statement, he said in part, “small rural states like Iowa must have a voice in our Presidential nominating process. Democrats cannot forget about entire groups of voters in the heart of the Midwest without doing significant damage to the party for a generation.”
Wilburn also alluded to Iowa attempting to lead off the political calendar despite the DNC’s decision-making.
Later on in the statement, he said “Iowa does not have the luxury of conducting a state-run primary, nor are Iowa Republicans likely to support legislation that would establish one. Our state law requires us to hold a caucus before the last Tuesday in February, and before any other contest.”
The DNC opened up the top five slots of the election calendar to states in April, and said they would be judged on diversity, competitiveness in the general election, and ability to organize a primary or caucus. Iowa was among the states to apply for one of the top positions.
Shortly after the application window opened, political analysts predicted Iowa would have a hard road back to the top of the pile.
“The Democratic Party is really skeptical of Iowa right now; the profile of Iowa doesn’t match up to the demographic profile that they see for the party,” said Rachel Paine Caufield, a political science professor at Drake University, during an interview in April. “We’re not a big state, we’re not an economically powerful state. Iowa wants to be first, but it’s pretty clear right now that the Democrats don’t want Iowa to be first.”