Global Courant
Former President Donald Trump responds to audience applause at a campaign event on July 1, 2023 in Pickens, South Carolina. The former president faces a growing list of primary challengers in the Republican Party.
Sean Rayford| Getty Images
Iowa Republicans have scheduled the party’s presidential primary for January 15, 2024, putting the first ballots of the next election just over six months away.
The Iowa Republican Party’s central state committee voted unanimously on Saturday to hold opening games on the third Monday in January — Martin Luther King Jr.’s federal holiday. Day.
Although Republican presidential candidates have been campaigning in Iowa since last winter, there is some uncertainty about when the traditional opening games will be held. That’s partly due to the Democratic National Committee’s rescheduling of the calendar and the elimination of Iowa as the first game.
The GOP date is several weeks earlier than the past three Iowa primaries, though not as early as 2008, when they were held just three days into the new year.
Caucuses, unlike primaries, are contests planned, funded, and conducted by the parties, not state election officials. Saturday’s announcement in Iowa allows New Hampshire, which has not yet set a primary election date, to protect its first-in-the-nation status, which is codified in state law requiring the game to be played at least seven days before any other game. held. primary.
Last month, South Carolina Republicans approved Feb. 24 as the date for the traditional first Southern primary, leaving enough time for Nevada to schedule its Republican primary without displacing New Hampshire.
“We remain committed to preserving Iowa’s cherished first-in-the-nation caucuses, and look forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden in November 2024,” said Jeff Kaufmann, president of the Republican Party of Iowa, in a statement.
Saturday’s decision could affect both parties, as Democrats in Iowa had been waiting for the state’s Republican Party to set the date of the caucus as they tried to adapt to new DNC rules by order of the 2024 presidential primaries.
Iowa Democrats have proposed holding a caucus on the same day as the state’s Republicans and allowing participants to vote for president by ballot. But Iowa Democrats have said they may not release the results immediately.
That could allow the state party to still hold the first-in-the-nation caucus without defying a new primary calendar endorsed by President Joe Biden and endorsed by the DNC calling on South Carolina to replace Iowa on first place and primary start. vote on February 3.
