Iowa Democrats say they will hold 2024 caucuses on the same day as Republicans

Iowa Democrats will propose holding their 2024 caucuses the same day as Iowa Republicans, moving the party closer to an unsanctioned place at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.

But key changes mean the caucuses would look dramatically different than in years past. The party has proposed casting presidential preferences entirely by mail and only conducting party business on caucus night.

And it may or may not release the caucus winner on caucus night.

It’s the latest step forward in what is expected to be a complicated, monthslong interstate and cross-party effort to set the 2024 presidential nominating calendar after the Democratic National Committee voted earlier this year to upend tradition and boot Iowa Democrats from their place at the front of the line.

The proposal is part of a 62-page delegate selection plan the Iowa Democratic Party released Wednesday outlining its plans for the 2024 Iowa caucuses. After a 30-day public comment period, the draft proposal will go to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, where it faces an uncertain fate.

Even though the plan appeases the national party’s desire to see Iowa move closer to a traditional primary with a broad caucus-by-mail system, it defies the DNC’s plan to replace Iowa with South Carolina as the leadoff state.

Iowa Democrats are clinging to the hope that two other early-voting states, New Hampshire and Georgia, won't be able to meet the committee’s requirements — potentially leaving room for Iowa to claim one of their spots.

"While this draft has potential to change over the next month, the principles of this plan will not. It is still our intention to move forward with the most inclusive Iowa caucus process in history," Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart told reporters. "You have heard me say ad nauseam since I was first elected chair of the Iowa Democratic Party that the presidential nominating calendar is not a done deal."

But the plan has riled Republicans, who say it jeopardizes their own first-in-the-nation status.

“It is becoming clear to me that keeping Iowa first is not the goal of the Iowa Democrats," Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement. "The fact that they continue to keep pushing their primary-in-all-but-name proposal gives the appearance that the Iowa Democrats are hellbent on tanking the entire caucus. They’ve turned what used to be a process that we did together into all-out political warfare."

Iowa Democrats say caucus plan gives them flexibility

The plan is vague about the specific date the state party will hold caucuses and how exactly those caucuses would proceed.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said the goal is to create a flexible framework that can adapt as the conversation changes, leaving the party’s options open.

“We know that this draft delegate selection plan will raise a few questions," she told reporters. "But it's designed to provide flexibility in the Iowa Democratic Party to respond to this calendar chaos."

Under the plan, Iowa Democrats could request a presidential preference card ahead of Caucus Day and submit it through the mail.

The results would be tallied at an unspecified later date and may or may not be announced on Caucus Day.

Hart said that conducting traditional party business on Caucus Day and then announcing results and tallying delegates on a separate date later in the calendar could allow the party to hold a first-in-the-nation caucus and avoid upsetting the other states that the DNC has said should precede Iowa on the calendar.

But she said she doesn't know how the conversation will go or how the DNC will view Iowa's proposal.

"It would be nice to know exactly where things are going to end up. The sooner we get that figured out, of course, the better," she said. "But right now, I mean, some things are just not in our control. ... And so that's why we're focused in on taking one step at a time and doing what we can to get ready to have a caucus that includes this mail-in process that will allow a lot more people to be involved.”

More: The death of the Iowa Democratic caucus: How 50 years of jury-rigging doomed an American tradition

Iowa Democrats say GOP legislation isn't influencing their proposal

Things are also complicated at the state level, where Democrats and Republicans are at odds over how to move forward.

Although Iowa Democrats have been stripped of their first-in-the-nation status, Republicans are still expected to hold the first GOP contest in 2024 — so long as the calendar fight doesn’t spill over onto their side of the aisle.

New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican, said last month that his state would move to preempt Iowa on the presidential nominating calendar if Iowa Democrats move forward with a caucus-by-mail plan.

Iowa Republicans in the Statehouse have introduced legislation aimed at preventing such a scenario.

The legislation, which cleared the Iowa House Monday and is moving through the Senate, would require in-person participation for caucuses. The bill says that if an Iowa political party “chooses to select its delegates as part of the presidential nominating process at political party precinct caucuses” and goes first, then the caucuses need to be held in person.

Some legislative Democrats have suggested the bill, if passed, would not impede the party’s caucus-by-mail plan.

Under the proposed plan, Iowa Democrats would physically meet in person on Caucus Day to select delegates to the county conventions. There would not be any absentee or proxy voting allowed during that selection process.

"I don't think this bill does anything to preclude the Iowa Democratic Party from continuing with our plan to make the caucuses more inclusive, early and a great representation of who the country should have as our nominee," House Minority Leader Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, told reporters Monday. She suggested "decoupling" the selection of delegates from the casting of presidential preferences could satisfy both parties.

But Hart said Iowa Democratic Party officials did not consider the legislation while drafting their delegate selection plan. She would not discuss how such a law, if passed, might affect it.

"I'm the Democratic Party chair. It is not my concern what the Republicans think we ought to do with our caucuses," she said. "So they're going to pass their legislation, they're going to do what they're going to do. We did not have input into that and that's disappointing."

Scott Brennan, a Des Moines attorney who sits on the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee, said he expects the proposed legislation to end up in court.

"As a practicing lawyer, I would tell you that it raises serious constitutional issues that likely are going to have to be decided by a court," he said.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Democrats plan to hold 2024 caucuses the same day as Republicans