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Today are the primary elections in New Hampshire and it's been a week since the Iowa caucus. Have you ever wondered why these two states vote first in Democrat and Republican presidential primaries? Well, it's a mix of tradition, coincidence, legislation and hotel room availability. It sounds weird, I know, but let's explain it.
New Hampshire has held its primary before anyone else since 1920, but there is also a state law that demands this process to continue. The law states that primaries must be held “7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election.” But then, why did Iowa vote a week ago? Because Iowa holds a presidential caucus, not a primary. According to New Hampshire law, Iowa doesn’t count.
The Iowa caucus became the first stop in the presidential primaries in 1972. It was almost a coincidence: the guidelines of the Democrat party stated that caucuses were to be held one month before the party’s state convention, in June. However, since there were no hotel rooms available for those dates in Des Moines, the convention was moved earlier. Nowadays, Iowa legislation states that its caucuses will be the first in the country.
By voting for president before anyone else during the last decades, Iowa and New Hampshire have a lot of political influence, despite being small states. For many presidential candidates, winning there means standing out and getting their name out there. In fact, since 1972, there have only been 2 presidents (Clinton and Biden) who won the White House without winning the Iowa caucus or New Hampshire primary election.
Why does Biden (and others) want Iowa and New Hampshire to stop voting first?
Although tonight is the primary election in New Hampshire, President Biden is not on the ballot. Biden is not included as an official protest, since the Democrat Party decided that the first state to hold primary elections this year was going to be South Carolina. But New Hampshire decided not to follow the rules, and celebrate their primaries before anyone else. Consequently, Democrats won’t take into consideration today's results.
Why does Biden want to change tradition? The President’s argument, echoed by many others, is that voting fist has a lot of influence, and that much influence should be in the hands of a state that is more representative of the United States than Iowa and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, for example, Latinos are less than 5% of the population, and in Iowa, only 7%, while in the entire country they account for 19% of all Americans.
In Iowa and New Hampshire, over 90% of their population is white and Democrats want more diverse states to vote first. That is why they changed the official calendar of their primaries so that the first ones would occur in South Carolina (26% are African American), and then Nevada (30% are Latinos), but New Hampshire has decided to keep their primary date in January.
Another recurrent critique to Iowa and New Hampshire’s privileged position is that, despite being small states, their importance in the primaries gives them more political influence than other states. Between the two of them, they only represent a 1.38% of the US population, while if California and Texas voted first, that would represent over 20% of all U.S. citizens.
Donald Trump and Nikki Haley go head-to-head today in New Hampshire
Since Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out only a few hours ago, the spotlight in today's New Hampshire elections is between former President Donald Trump and his main rival, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Although voting centers have different opening hours, the majority are open until 7 PM. ET.
Although President Biden is not on the ballot of the Democrat primaries as a sign of protest, the party is asking voters to write his name when voting to show their support. After today's elections, the most important upcoming dates are the Democrat primaries in South Carolina (February 3rd), Nevada (February 6th) and the Republican caucuses of Nevada and the Virgin Islands (February 8th).
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Primera fecha de publicación de este artículo: 01/05/2024
