Iowa Democrats are traveling to Washington this week to urge the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee to let the state regain a front-of-the-line role in 2028, arguing for a streamlined caucus plan built around more accessibility and a simpler way to count votes.
On a January night when Iowa Democrats remember the “math” and the delays too well, state party chair Rita Hart is now asking the national party to give Iowa another chance—without forcing voters to endure the old process.
This week. Hart and other Iowa Democrats will travel to Washington. D.C. to pitch a streamlined caucus plan to members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee. The committee will begin meeting over three days starting Wednesday. May 27. with the task of setting the calendar for the 2028 presidential primary. For Iowa. the stakes are simple: where the Democratic nomination race starts determines how much time. attention. and resources are available in the early years of a long campaign.
Hart has argued repeatedly that the committee should reconsider Iowa’s position as Democrats work to regain ground with rural. working-class voters who have fled the party in large numbers. In a statement. she said the party needs “a state like Iowa where any Democratic presidential candidate can compete. where it’s affordable and where the candidates can look forward to getting up close and personal and really understanding the issues that will bring us back to an understanding of working class voters.”.
The committee’s calendar, according to members describing its structure, will pick one state from each of four geographic regions, with a potential fifth state. Iowa Democrats say the grouping of states should represent the wider electorate.
The prospective states named by the committee’s process are Delaware and New Hampshire in the East; Illinois, Iowa and Michigan in the Midwest; Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia in the South; and Nevada and New Mexico in the West.
Each of those prospective states submitted written applications, reviewed at a January meeting.
Iowa’s proposal centers on making the caucus more accessible and reducing the friction that has made the event feel less like a modern voter experience and more like a logistical test.
Late last year. the Iowa Democratic Party released results of a survey it conducted with rank-and-file Democrats about the future of the presidential nominating caucuses. Hart said the survey made it clear that Iowa Democrats want the caucuses to be more accessible. Her proposal includes opening an absentee window so Democrats can indicate their presidential preferences by mail ahead of an in-person caucus.
“We can no longer hold a caucus on one cold night in January and think that that’s representative of our Democratic Party,” Hart said. “That’s a priority for us that we have more accessibility, and the obvious way to do that is through a mail-in process.”
Hart said that absentee processing would be completed before Caucus Day so there is still an in-person component, which she said remains important to Iowa Democrats.
But the proposal also aims to end the most exhausting parts of the traditional caucus format—especially the pieces volunteers were forced to manage during previous cycles.
Gone, Hart said, would be the old requirement that Democrats physically stand to show support for a candidate and be counted. The complicated math and the “state delegate equivalents” would also be removed. Instead, Democrats would express preferences for their favorite candidate in writing.
Hart said the change is meant to reduce pressure on volunteers and improve the experience for voters who are asked to participate. “I think from our party faithful. from our volunteers who were tasked with making that math work. I think that was a lot of pressure on people and just was a headache. ” Hart said. “They want a simpler process.”.
She added that she believes the new plan keeps “the character and the flavor of the in-person caucus” while ditching the elements that overcomplicated the system. Iowa Democrats also plan a simpler tabulation of results and expect to hire a vendor to ensure the party can release the full set of results on Caucus Night.
That last part matters politically. Even small details about how results are handled have historically set off conflict with New Hampshire, which has long argued that it hosts the nation’s first primary after Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
If Iowa’s caucuses start to resemble a primary too closely, New Hampshire has pushed back. Hart framed the dispute in blunt terms: she said her concern wasn’t about New Hampshire’s position but about what is best for Iowa.
“My major concern is not with New Hampshire,” Hart said. “New Hampshire’s got to do what New Hampshire’s got to do. We’re going to do what’s best for Iowa.”
In Washington, Iowa’s representatives will make the argument that rebuilding Iowa’s role in the Democratic calendar is tied to both voter outreach and campaign messaging—particularly against Republicans looking to define the narrative early.
Iowa Democrats will argue that. in addition to winning back rural voters. national Democrats need a way to counter the messages Republicans plan to spread as they host their first-in-the-nation caucuses in 2028. The memo from Republicans that Iowa Democrats anticipate is stark: Republicans spent $120 million in ads while competing in Iowa’s 2024 Republican caucuses. far exceeding what was spent in other early states.
Iowa representatives contend that messaging that went unanswered overwhelmed Democrats in Iowa and nationally at a key moment in the campaign cycle. They also say Iowa Democrats are on track to regain ground in the 2026 midterm elections. pointing to key battleground seats in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and the governor’s race.
The push for a better, clearer caucus process has a direct line to the moment Iowa lost its lead-off status—after Democrats say the event failed the country’s expectations.
The DNC stripped Iowa of its first-in-the-nation caucus spot and reordered the nominating calendar in 2022 following a disastrous 2020 presidential caucus in which Iowa’s results were riddled with delays and errors.
Then-President Joe Biden later recommended that South Carolina replace Iowa at the front of the line in 2024. with New Hampshire. Nevada. Georgia and Michigan to follow. In 2024. Iowa Democrats held a fully absentee mail-in event rather than their traditional in-person first-in-the-nation caucuses. with results announced on Super Tuesday in March. Democrats met in person only to conduct party business the same day Iowa Republicans held their caucuses.
The calendar process reopened in 2025, with committee leaders saying they would prioritize states that can create a “rigorous, efficient and fair” nominating contest.
Taken together, Iowa Democrats’ pitch reads like a response to two forces that collided: the party’s need to reach more voters beyond a single January night, and the national party’s insistence that early contests should be efficient enough to earn trust.
Hart is betting that a caucus that is easier to join and simpler to count can help Iowa earn back momentum with rural, working-class voters—while also giving Democrats a clearer early-stage message as the party faces a high-spend Republican push in 2028.
Iowa Democrats DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee 2028 presidential primary calendar caucus changes Rita Hart absentee voting New Hampshire first-in-the-nation 2020 caucus delays 2024 mail-in event political messaging in Iowa 2026 midterms