Nevada Meltdown Could Preserve Iowa's First Primary Status

Iowa could lose its status in the coming months as the first state in the nation to list primary results. The news comes following Iowa's botched Democratic caucus last year, while Nevada put its bid in to supplant the Hawkeye state for the 2024 primary calendar year.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a bill into law Friday to elevate Nevada ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire for the 2024 primary. But, the move caused longstanding fissures within the state's Democratic Party to break open. In the state's second-most populous region of Washoe County, Democrats pulled what amounted to a party coup, usurping control from the state's midterm campaign operation away from the state party.

According to Politico, the chair of the Nevada Democratic Party, Judith Whitmer, decried the move as an "insurgency within our own party."

So the growing concern over Nevada could give Iowans some hope to reestablish themselves in the pecking order for the national party.

Additionally, Nevada's bid was never grounded in the cohesiveness of the state party; rather it was a response to the lack of diversity in Iowa and New Hampshire, two predominantly white states.

But as Scott Brennan, an Iowa DNC member, described the current state of party affairs, Nevada has "their internal issues," which "certainly create challenges that make it hard to see them moving forward successfully."

Other party affiliates have shared similar concerns, as Michael Ceraso, a Democrat strategist, put it, "I think if Nevada can't get its s**t together, that disqualifies them. If a state can't work together, how are they going to operate a primary?"

Others see the goings-on in Nevada as less of an issue. According to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., he considers the infighting in the state party as "exaggerated," and "the mere fact that somebody took over the state party,'' should be regarded as an everyday occurrence, because "it happens all the time."

"Nevada's that kind of a state," he added. "I've been to state party meetings where fist fights broke out, so we're used to a little intrigue."

Reid said he doubts any of the state's political machinations would block it from a first-in-line position in the 2024 calendar year.

• Governor Signs Law Giving Nevada 1st Presidential Primary
• GOP Party Chairs in Early States Want Presidential Primary Schedule to Remain