(Radio Iowa) – The leaders of BOTH of Iowa’s major parties are criticizing Friday’s (July 24th) decision that would see Democratic voters in South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia vote first in the 2028 presidential election. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart says the decision is a slap in the face of Midwesterners.
Former Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan says winning the presidency requires competing in all regions of the country.
Hart says Iowa Democrats are focused on this year’s election and they’ll decide AFTER November 3rd whether to ignore national party rules and hold their 2028 Caucuses first.
Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann says it’s irritating to see national Democrats disrespect Iowa — but he says it also shows that Iowa Democrats are considered irrelevant nationally.
Kaufmann told reporters, though, that the Iowa G-O-P would work with Iowa Democrats — as they have in the past — if they want to go rogue and join Republicans in kicking off the 2028 presidential campaign. Kaufmann says Iowa Democrats are in this predicament for a number of reasons, partly because they stuck to arcane rules for their Caucuses that required calculus to figure out who won.
Presidential candidates of the past and, perhaps, the future are still making trips to the state. Ted Cruz, who won the 2016 Iowa Republican Party’s Caucuses, is campaigning for Iowa candidates this weekend and Pete Buttigieg (BOOT-ih-jedge), who won the 2020 Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses, was here last weekend.
