Dems may shake up presidential primary calendar

(NewsNation) — The Democratic National Committee might totally upend their primary system and move the first contest to Michigan or South Carolina, according to various reports.

For decades, Iowa made or killed presidential dreams. Candidates for the highest office in the land often auditioned in the living rooms of Iowa farms.

During a Thursday appearance on NewsNation’s “On Balance,” Scott Bolden, former chairman of the D.C. Democratic Party, said that “diverse voters” would benefit most from such a political shake-up.

“There’s been a real push, and a very logical push. Whoever wins really does get a boost, not only in money, but in media coverage,” Bolden said.

In a letter to the rulemaking arm of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, President Joe Biden said that Democrats should move past “restrictive” caucuses and embrace diversity in the order of their presidential nominating calendar.

Biden does not mention specific states he’d like to see go first. However, he notes that Black voters for decades “have been the backbone of the Democratic Party” and says it’s “time to stop taking these voters for granted.”

The Associated Press reports Biden favors South Carolina going first, but the Detroit News reports he’s also floated Michigan.

The Democratic rules committee will gather in Washington on Friday to consider shaking up the presidential primary calendar starting in 2024.

If the rulemaking committee takes up Biden’s recommendation, Iowa would be knocked from a position it has held for more than four decades after technical meltdowns marred results of the 2020 caucus and amid a larger party push to let a more diverse state go first.

Bolden added that he does not think Biden losing in Iowa and New Hampshire is the driving force behind the recommendation.

“The drive behind this is Iowa caucuses being confusing … And you didn’t get a winner… It took a couple of weeks to get a winner.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.