President Joe Biden is pushing Democratic National Committee officials to make South Carolina the first primary state, according to The Washington Post.
The newspaper, attributing the details to Democrats briefed on the plan, said Biden has also asked the DNC leaders to hold primaries in New Hampshire and Nevada a week after South Carolina and to schedule subsequent weekly primaries in Georgia and Michigan.
The Post called it a "tectonic decision to remake the party's presidential nominating calendar for 2024."
Many in the DNC, who had been lobbying for changes in the primary schedule, had not focused on South Carolina being first or the Georgia primary being held early.
Biden's decision to seek the change caught party officials by surprise.
Iowa historically has held the first Democrat caucus, but experienced tabulating problems in the 2020 results. The state would not be in the mix for an early role in the president's plan, the Post said.
Biden's proposed changes are likely to be approved by DNC officials, but it is anticipated to meet resistance in those affected states.
New Hampshire Democrats vowed that they would not abide Biden's wishes.
"The DNC did not give New Hampshire the first-in-the-nation primary and it is not theirs to take away," New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said. "This news is obviously disappointing, but we will be holding our primary first. We have survived past attempts over the decades and we will survive this."
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., called the Biden proposal "tremendously disappointing." Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said it was "deeply misguided."
The Post noted Biden's plan is designed to signal his party's commitment to elevating more variety in the early nominating process — particularly demographically, geographically, and economically.
The early primaries usually attract millions of dollars in candidate spending.
Axios reported the proposed shakeup will mean bigger states will move up and make the nominating process more representative.
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