Tom Perez, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, doesn’t believe the Iowa caucuses should be the nation’s first in the presidential election cycle.
Perez, who left the post last month, told the New York Times in an interview published on Sunday that the first state needs to be one with a more diverse population.
When asked whether he thought Iowa and New Hampshire should go first in future cycles, Perez was hesitant to answer.
“That will be up to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee,” he said.
“A diverse state or states need to be first,” he said when pressed on the matter. “The difference between going first and going third is really important. We know the importance of momentum in Democratic primaries.”
After being pressed a third time, Perez said, “The status quo is clearly unacceptable.”
Iowa has held the nation’s first caucus since 1972. According to state law, New Hampshire’s primary must occur one week prior to that of a “similar election.” Since Iowa holds caucuses instead of a primary, the Granite State does not need to move its election. The state has held the first primary election in the country since 1920.
“The world has changed a lot since 1972 to 2020 and 2024,” Perez said. “And so the notion that we need to do it, because, ‘This is how we’ve always done it,’ is a woefully insufficient justification for going first again. This is the Democratic Party of 2020. It’s different from the Democratic Party in how we were in 1972. And we need to reflect that change. And so I am confident that the status quo is not going to survive.”
The DNC did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
“We take every challenge to the primary seriously,” Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “We will work hard to make our case and we’re confident we will succeed. In the meantime, we wish our friend Tom the very best of luck in his campaign for governor of Maryland.”
