Iowa GOP chair says his party will back Iowa Democrats if they hold Caucuses first, against party rules

DES MOINES — The Iowa GOP’s chairman says he’ll back Iowa Democratic Party leaders if they decide to resist a proposal that would kick the Democratic Party’s Caucuses out of the lead spot in the 2024 presidential campaign.

President Joe Biden has proposed South Carolina’s Presidential Primary go first, followed by primaries in New Hampshire, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. The Republican National Committee has voted to keep the Iowa GOP’s Caucuses first.

Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann  says if Democrats in Iowa decide to follow state law and hold their Caucuses on the same night as Republicans do, he’ll back them up.  “They will find in the Republican Party of Iowa and in me personally, a very strong partner in making sure that they can be successful,” Kaufmann says.

A panel of national Democrats is meeting in Washington, D.C. today to consider Biden’s list of five state primaries he’s proposing lead the party’s presidential nomination process in 2024.

Iowa Democratic Party chair Ross Wilburn says Iowa does not have the luxury of conducting a state-run primary and Republicans who control state government are not likely to support legislation to switch from Caucuses to a Primary.