Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro speaks during an early voting rally at Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022.
Friday, Dec. 2, 2022 | 10:09 a.m.
Assemblyman Steve Yeager on Monday, Aug. 3, 2020 on the third day of the 32nd Special Session of the Legislature in Carson City. (David Calvert/Nevada Independent, pool)
Nevada Democrats are calling for President Joe Biden to reverse course after he wrote to the Democratic National Convention to propose South Carolina lead the party's nominating calendar.
The letter, sent Thursday to the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee and later announced by the party, suggests putting Nevada second on the list, followed by New Hampshire, Georgia and Michigan.
In response, Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, both Democrats, issued a joint statement today stating they "strongly disagree" with Biden's plan and that they intend to keep Nevada's Democratic primary in early February.
Nevada's 2024 presidential primary is scheduled to take place Feb. 6.
"We strongly disagree with President Biden's proposed new order of early presidential nominating states," the statement said. "Nevada is a diverse, union-strong battleground state that has consistently delivered Democratic wins up and down the ballot. Democrats have also made our state a national model for accessible voting — including shifting away from a party-run caucus and implementing a state-run primary process that will dramatically increase voter participation,” the statement said. "We are the right long-term choice to be first in the nation."
The move would also demote Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary in favor of states with a more racially and socioeconomically diverse population. Biden signaled in his letter that states should move away from the caucus system in favor of primaries.
"We must ensure that voters of color have a voice in choosing our nominee much earlier in the process and throughout the entire early window," Biden wrote in his letter to the committee. "Black voters in particular have been the backbone of the Democratic Party but have been pushed to the back of the early primary process.”
"We rely on these voters in elections but have not recognized their importance in our nominating calendar,” Biden said. “It is time to stop taking these voters for granted, and time to give them a louder and earlier voice in the process."
Nevada Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto also chimed in, tweeting today the proposed new order "disregards the broad coalition of national organizations and leaders calling for Nevada to go first, and instead elevates a state that doesn't actually align with @TheDemocrats own priorities for updating the calendar."
Cortez Masto said she and fellow Nevada U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen hope the proposal is amended to "address these serous concerns."
South Carolina was a pivotal state in helping Biden secure the party's nomination in 2020. He earned the endorsement of influential U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, who helped galvanize the Black vote and helped Biden overcome fourth- and fifth-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively.
The plan was also met by pushback from officials in New Hampshire and Iowa, the New York Times reported.
Both states are still primed to be top-five primary contests for Republicans, who will stick with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, according to the Times.
Historically during presidential election years, states will hold some form of a nominating convention, whether that be a caucus, primary or other method from February to June.
In each of those contests, candidates will compete for a number of delegates that will ultimately be assigned during the party’s national convention, and from those conventions, a candidate will be nominated as the party’s presidential candidate.
Nevada is already one of the few states in the DNC’s early primary window. But moving it to first overall would give Nevada greater say in what issues are most important and which candidates are best suited to solve those issues, said Molly Forgey, a former staffer for longtime Nevada U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and Gov. Steve Sisolak.
“This move isn’t just important for the future and long-term direction of the Democratic Party,” Forgey told the Sun last month. “It would mean that Nevadans have even more access to candidates running to be president, and that increased attention would put an outsized focus on the issues that matter to the West like climate change, immigration reform, public lands, tourism and so much more.”
