Lawmakers in Nevada on Monday passed a bill in an effort to displace New Hampshire and become the first state to weigh in on the 2024 presidential primary races.
New Hampshire has long been the first state to hold nominating primaries, with Iowa holding its caucuses a week later (but in 2020, Iowa went first followed by New Hampshire). But one advocate of Nevada taking over the first slot said those states aren’t reflective of the nation as a whole.
“New Hampshire and Iowa are not really reflections of our entire country. Presidential candidates should look at Nevada as the example of what they should be doing and who they should be talking to,” said Emily Persaud-Zamora, director of Silver State Voices, a Nevada voting advocacy group, according to The Associated Press.
The bill must be approved by Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak to become law, but national political parties would also have to approve of the move to change the 2024 primary and caucus calendar.
Sisolak has not said if he’ll sign the bill. “After the 2020 Presidential Caucus in Nevada, Governor Sisolak was clear that while Nevada Democrats did a phenomenal job of making the caucuses as accessible as possible, the caucus process itself has fundamental challenges that create obstacles for too many Nevadans to participate and make their voices heard,” his spokeswoman Meghin Delaney said in a statement.
She added that the governor “believes Nevada is perfectly positioned as a diverse and representative state to be first in the nation’s presidential nominating process.”
Democratic lawmakers back the move. “It’s time for Nevada to take its rightful place, not just first in the West but in the nation, as a diverse state, a state with diverse issues,” said Nevada Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation.
The AP said the push to become the first state “follows a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign led by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.”
“Reid and other Nevada Democrats have seized on dissatisfaction in the party about the nominating process that gained steam in 2020. They’re arguing to replace party-run caucuses with state-run primary elections, which are considered easier to participate in than the in-person neighborhood caucus meetings,” said the wire service.
The party is expected to undergo a months-long review of its past nominating process and isn’t expected to set its nominating calendar until at least next year. If the party doesn’t sign off on the changes, it could force Nevada to amend its law or risk having its delegates dropped from the Democratic National Convention.
The Republican Party, which has most recently kept Nevada’s caucuses as its fourth contest, has not backed the change. Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald opposes the change, warning that the state acting unilaterally could leave both his party and the Nevada Democrats without national delegates in 2024 and less influence on the presidential nominating process.