(Radio Iowa) – A top Democrat in the legislature is calling on his party to hold its Iowa Caucuses in 2028 before any other state holds a presidential primary. House Minority Leader Brian Meyer of Des Moines says it was a mistake for Iowa Democrats to give in to national party leaders who put South Carolina’s Democratic Primary first in 2024.

Meyer said also….

President Biden, who finished fourth in the 2020 Iowa Caucuses, criticized the way the caucuses are conducted and called for South Carolina to go first instead.

House Minority Leader Brian Meyer (D-Des Moines) (official photo)

The Iowa Caucuses had been the lead-off event for Democrats in a dozen presidential elections.

Meyer notes New Hampshire, which started holding a presidential primary in 1920, ignored the national party’s edict for 2024 and still held its presidential primary first.

Meyer says Iowa Democrats can get rid of the complicated math that’s been used in the Caucuses to determine a winner and just do what Iowa Republicans do — declare the person who gets the most votes the winner. The Iowa Republican Party’s Caucuses were still first-in-the-nation in 2024 and Iowa G-O-P leaders are pushing to maintain that position in 2028.

Meyer says the Caucuses help Democrats register new voters and start precinct level organizing for the General Election. Meyer made his comments during taping of the “Iowa Press” program on Iowa P-B-S. Some Iowa Democrats say the Caucuses have been a distraction from local races and it’s time to give up the fight to have the Democratic Party’s Caucuses go first in 2028.