Both Republicans and Democrats are criticizing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after it voted Saturday to make sweeping changes to its presidential nominating calendar for the 2024 election cycle.
A vote of about 500 voting members of the DNC who gathered for the party’s winter meeting required final approval. President BidenThe proposal to move South Carolina to the lead position in the Democrats’ primary calendar. Under Biden’s plan, South Carolina would hold its primary on February 3, 2024, New Hampshire and Nevada three days later, followed by Georgia on February 13 and Michigan two weeks later.
The measure by voting members of the committee, which faced bipartisan scrutiny from lawmakers before the vote, knocked Iowa and New Hampshire from their longtime lead-off positions and scheduled black and Hispanic voters. At the top of the additional representation.
Rona McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in a statement that the DNC had decided to “cause chaos” by changing the calendar.
Votes, IOWA, NH upset over DNC’s plan to throw off Biden’s presidential nominating calendar
Rhona McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
(Kyle Gerlatt/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The RNC unanimously adopted its rules a year ago and solidified the traditional nominating process that the American people know and understand,” McDaniel said. “The DNC has decided to break half a century of precedent and create chaos by altering its core processes, and ultimately leaving millions of Americans in Iowa and New Hampshire.”
“Our first in the nation primary strengthens our entire country and democracy,” Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan wrote in a tweet in response to the news. “Regardless of DNC vote, New Hampshire will go first.”
“The DNC’s basic proposal asks us to violate our own state law and jeopardizes the future success of Democrats in our state — it’s deeply misguided,” added Hassan, who recently served on the House floor. Another was re-elected for a six-year term.
Democratic Party of New Mexico Vice Chair Manny Crispin after voting at the Democratic National Committee’s winter meeting on recommendations from its rules committees to reset the 2024 presidential primary calendar on February 4, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. are happy
(Timothy A. Cleary/AFP via Getty Images)
Democrats’ intra-party feud: DNC backs off Biden’s plan to update presidential nominating calendar
Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley also offered a response to the move, saying the DNC “pulled the rug out” from Iowa Democrats by forcing the party to hold a caucus on a different day than the GOP in the state.
“[The] The DNC officially pulled out the rug. [from] Iowa Democrats are the first in the nation to cancel,” Grassley said on social media. “The Iowa caucuses had a decades-old tradition of BIPARTISANSHIP. It’s sad that the Dems don’t value the voice of rural America… with luck the Republicans will continue. [to] take away [first] In the nation’s mantle.”
On the eve of the vote, longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley called the DNC’s move “mind-blowing” and a “self-inflicted wound” that would hurt Democratic candidates in 2024 in key Northeast generals. Prospects will suffer. State of the Electoral Field.
“We are extremely concerned about the impact this calendar will have on our purple, critical battleground state,” Buckley said in a statement after the vote that New Hampshire is a critical battleground state in 2024. The Electoral College votes for President Biden in 2020. Next year, those four votes could be the difference between sending President Biden back to the White House or handing it to the Republicans,” he said.
He pledged to prioritize Biden’s re-election and regaining the New Hampshire governorship in 2024, but said those “priorities …
Unlike those who were upset by the news, Michigan Democrats, including state party chair Lavora Barnes and Republican Debbie Dingle, expressed excitement over the change.
“Senator Carl Levin smiles down at us today. It’s the culmination of a journey he began 30 years ago, and a torch I’m proud to carry because I’ve always believed that Michigan elects the president and all roads lead through the White House heartland,” Dingle said in a statement. “This primary calendar, approved today by the DNC, will establish a presidential nominating process that reflects the diversity of our country and ensures that we as Democrats reflect the issues that will be on the agenda in November. are paramount in determining the winner.”
Rep. Debbie Dangle, D-Mich., speaks at the DNC Winter Meeting on February 4, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Timothy A. Cleary/AFP via Getty Images)
Likewise, Barnes concluded that the calendar change is “a good day for Michigan and our entire nation.”
“Throughout this process, we made the case that our state is a place that elects the president,” Barnes said. “With the DNC’s seal of approval, our presidential nominating process will now reflect the diversity of our nation and the voice of Michiganders. Along with Congresswoman Debbie Dingle, our other congressional leaders, Gov. An honor., the lieutenant governor, and the Michigan Legislature all united behind Sen. Carl Levin’s dream to move Michigan forward. That dream is now ready to become a reality.”
A New Hampshire DNC committee member has warned that the changes could hurt the party and the president, as Republicans in the state “weaponize” the proposed calendar to go after Democratic politicians.
“We are frustrated, because as many times as we say this, no one seems to listen when we say that this will only hurt President Biden on our purple battlefield,” the DNC said. Committee member Joan Dowdell from Hampshire said. Bylaws Panel.
The committee’s decision marks a dramatic shift from the current calendar, which has seen Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries out of the process for five decades. But many Democrats have for years knocked the two states as unrepresentative of the party as a whole, as mostly white with some large urban areas. Nevada and South Carolina, which have voted third and fourth on the calendar in recent visits, are far more diverse than Iowa or New Hampshire.
With screenshots of reactions from Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, Sens. Maggie Hassan, DN.H., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
(Timothy A. Cleary/AFP via Getty Images.)
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sanono and state Republicans have repeatedly criticized Biden and the DNC. “We’re going first, no matter what,” Sununo reiterated.
The president and supporters of the plan argue it would empower minority voters, who Democrats have long relied on but sometimes taken for granted.
“This committee has put together a proposal for a calendar that reflects our values ​​and will strengthen our party. This calendar does what is long overdue. It would increase the number of votes in the early window. And it elevates the diverse communities that are at the heart of the Democratic Party,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.
Harrison said Saturday that the new calendar “puts black voters at the forefront of the action in South Carolina. It puts Nevada, where Latinos are making their voices heard and building strength.”
“Folks, the Democratic Party looks like America. And so does this proposal,” he added.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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