Rep. Maxine Waters argued that California should replace Iowa as the first presidential contest in the nation because the state holds many high-dollar fundraisers for the party.
Waters, a California Democrat, was asked on CNBC on Thursday if she felt Iowa should be replaced as the first presidential contest given that Iowa is not racially diverse and botched the results reporting process earlier this month. The congresswoman suggested that California take the lead in 2024 because her state pours the most money into the party.
“I think my state is extremely important, and that is why we moved up our primary. As you know, we have candidates who fly out to Los Angeles from everywhere to raise money. As a matter of fact, it had gotten so you would have two, three, four at a time in Beverly Hills having dinners and some of our contributors, who were very rich, were holding, you know, fancy parties trying to accommodate the requests for donations and contributions.”
She continued, “The conclusion, the thinking is that if we are supplying tremendous dollars to candidates, we ought to have more say. And of course beyond that, a lot of people have come to the conclusion that it should not simply be Iowa and New Hampshire.”
Waters said the two early states are “not reflective” of the racial diversity in the United States.
Host Kelly Evans questioned whether allowing California to have the first say in the presidential election would be giving the state “too much influence” over the national election. Waters disagreed, adding, “We think that we put a lot into the economy. We pay a lot of taxes. And we want to make sure that we have a significant role.”
Democrats have been critical of the influence of money within the presidential election. During one of the Democratic debates, Pete Buttigieg was condemned for attending a California fundraiser in a wine cave with several wealthy representatives from Silicon Valley.
