Democrats Move to Make South Carolina First Voting State

Facts

• The Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) rule-making arm voted to make South Carolina the first state to vote in its presidential primary starting in 2024, ending Iowa’s nearly 50-year first-in-the-nation status.
• The decision comes after Pres. Biden urged the DNC to prioritize states with more Black voters in the primary calendar, who he says are "the backbone of the Democratic party but have been pushed to the back of the early primary process."
• Following South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada are second in the primary order, followed by the battleground states of Georgia and Michigan.
• The committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing the primary order with the exceptions of Iowa and New Hampshire.
• In order to officially go into effect, each state will have to make the necessary statutory changes to their primary dates by Jan. 5. New Hampshire, which is Republican-controlled on the state level, requires its governor, Senate majority leader, and House majority leader to sign off on the changes.

Sources: Associated Press, Guardian, CNN, USA Today, and Des Moines Register.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Red State. In a sure sign that Biden plans to run in 2024, the current president and the DNC are clearly looking to manipulate the election in his favor. After his campaign was on life support following embarrassing losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Biden was saved by South Carolina. Now he wants to reshuffle the deck to have an early advantage and discourage primary challengers.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Palmer Report. The DNC’s decision to make South Carolina the first primary state shows that the party is always on the right side of diversity, giving voices to marginalized communities. Black voters deserve to have their voices heard early in the process, and South Carolina is representative of the Democrat’s diverse electorate.

Predictions