The rule-making panel of the Democratic National Committee will meet Thursday in Washington, DC, with several questions about the party’s 2024 presidential nominating calendar still unresolved.
The biggest question is the timing of the nominating contests in the longtime early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Earlier this year, national Democrats shifted both states out of their traditional positions at the front of the calendar, but neither state has said exactly when it’s planning to hold its 2024 Democratic contest.
While it’s unlikely the questions surrounding those contests will get resolved at Thursday’s meeting, it’s possible one or both states could face sanctions from the DNC down the road for violating the party’s scheduling rules.
New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary status is protected by state law. But under the new Democratic primary calendar, the Granite State’s only chance to hold an early primary is to vote on February 6, 2024, the same day as Nevada and shortly after South Carolina holds its primary on February 3.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican, who is responsible for setting the state’s primary date, said at a Wednesday news conference that he wouldn’t be following the new Democratic timeline.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re going to be going ahead of South Carolina, which puts us into January,” Scanlan said. “I’m just assuming we’re going to be in noncompliance with the Democratic National Committee.”
A January primary date would violate the DNC’s timing rules and could cost the state party delegates to the national convention.
It would also be a violation of party rules for President Joe Biden to campaign in such a January contest in New Hampshire or to even have his name on the ballot, although voters could write him…
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