South Carolina officially replaces Iowa, ending first-in-the-nation status
Iowa was removed from its long-time first-in-the-nation position on Saturday by the Democratic National Committee.
Members of the audience cheer as Pete Buttigeig takes the stage at the Bell Center following the closing of the polls on Monday, February 3, 2020. The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel voted to strip Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status on Friday.
February 5, 2023
The Democratic National Committee announced Saturday that the newly approved primary calendar removes Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status. The presidential nomination process will now start in South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia, and Michigan.
Iowa has been at the forefront of choosing the country’s next president since 1976.
“Turning their back on rural America in favor of a President who is too afraid to face our voters. The DNC has made their decision and America is worse off because of it,” Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds tweeted Saturday.
The calendar was changed to reflect the diversity of voters across the country, DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said on Saturday.
Iowa elected officials on both sides of the aisle have voiced their disappointment with the decision to remove Iowa from the front of the presidential nomination calendar.
“The Iowa caucuses were a decades long tradition of BIPARTISANSHIP it’s sad Dems don’t value the voice of rural America Fortunately republicans will continue to carry 1st in the nation mantle,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted on Saturday.
Newly appointed Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said the removal of Iowa from the presidential nomination process will hurt the party and the voters.
Despite the DNC removing Iowa from its long-time standing, Iowa is still first in the nation for the Republican primary calendar.