Iowa Democrats are officially conceding the position they have held in every presidential nominating contest since 1972: going first.
The plans announced Friday jibe with the Democratic National Committee’s new early state plans, which will have South Carolina hold the first party-sanctioned primary next year. And the decision in Iowa also clears the way for New Hampshire to finally set its 2024 primary date, which must be first in the nation according to state law — but which has been held up by Iowa Democrats’ deliberations over how to run the new mail-in portion of their caucuses.
Rita Hart, the chair of the Iowa Democratic party, announced the state’s plans for the 2024 caucus during a virtual news conference Friday morning. The plan will see the party release its results on Super Tuesday — March 5, 2024. Democrats in the state will be able to register for the new “mail-in caucuses” starting on Nov. 1.
Iowa Democrats will still hold an in-person caucus on Jan. 15, 2024, but that caucus will be for “party business,” which includes platform resolutions and electing unbound delegates and precinct chairs.
“We believe this delegate selection plan is a compromise and meets the requirements set forth by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and complies with Iowa law for 2024,” Hart said.
The DNC’s rules committee approved Iowa’s plan Friday during a meeting in St. Louis.
The decision to hold the results from the presidential nominating process on Super Tuesday is seen as “positive” news for New Hampshire, where a primary date has still not been set — as the state plans to go earlier than the DNC’s schedule mandates.
Scanlan had been keeping a close eye on when the Iowa Democrats planned to open their results. From his perspective, a mail-in caucus looks a lot like a primary. And New Hampshire’s state law requires the Granite State to have the first primary.
“The news out of Iowa as to how the Democrats plan to conduct their presidential nominating event is positive in terms of preserving the traditional positions of the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Presidential Primary,” Scanlan told NBC News in a written statement.
He also added he is not ready to set the date for the New Hampshire presidential primary yet.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu also weighed in: “New Hampshire didn’t back down and we prevailed,” he said in a press release.
Even though Iowa Democrats will not be going first this cycle, Hart said she has gotten “repeated reassurance” from the DNC’s rules committee that discussions around the presidential nominating calendar will open up again ahead of the 2028 election.
“I expect Iowa to compete strongly for a significant voice in the selection of our Democratic nominee — as we have for years,” Hart said. “I’ve also gotten commitment that no state has a guaranteed spot in the pre-window for 2028.”
