Iowa Democrats may hold first-in-nation caucus against DNC’s wishes

DES MOINES, Iowa (WOI) - The Democratic National Committee has voted to officially strip Iowa of its ‘first-in-the-nation’ caucus status.

However, that’s not stopping Iowa democrats who say they still intend to follow state law, and hold the caucus at the front of the election calendar anyway.

According to Iowa Code, the caucuses have to be held at least eight days earlier than any other state’s first vote. But it doesn’t specify any consequences if Iowa doesn’t go first.

The DNC says they’ll penalize states for holding elections out of order.

“Any state that just jumps the line and tries to hold an earlier contest will have half of their delegates stripped at the national convention, any candidate who campaigns in one of those states will lose all their delegates from that state,” said Rachel Paine Caufield, Professor of Political Science at Drake University.

Political experts say the order in 2024 likely won’t be as important, if Biden runs for re-election.

But the stalemate over the nomination calendar is expected to continue.

“Perhaps this means that we try to sort it out through legal processes and political gamesmanship with the goal of perhaps smoothing some of this over by 2028. But I don’t envision it’s gonna go away anytime soon,” Paine Caufield said.

The DNC approved a new order, with South Carolina leading the nomination process.

Followed by New Hampshire and Nevada, then Georgia and Michigan.

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