Silver State Times

Nevada Democrats are seeking to switch from caucus to primary so as to become an early voting state.

Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, who introduced the bill last week, said it “will lay the groundwork for Nevada to become the first state in the nation in the presidential nominating process.” according to The Epoch Times. 

“Nevada’s diverse population and first-hand experience in issues relating to climate change, public lands, immigration, and health care provide a unique voice that deserves to be heard first,” Frierson added in his statement, as reported by The Epoch Times. 

Nevada will be ahead of New Hampshire and Iowa in the primary order if the bill is approved. It will be mandatory for Nevada's top officials to move the primary earlier in case another state in the West tried to go before them.

Early primary states play an important role in determining which candidate dominates each major party, however in President Joe Biden's case, he found his footing after a bad start in the 2020 primary.

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy II have indicated their support for the shift.

“Last year, Democrats did incredible work to make our caucuses more accessible by including early voting and introducing multilingual training and materials, but the only way we can bring more voices into the process is by moving to a primary,” McCurdy said, adding Nevada is “a majority-minority state with a strong union population and the power structure of the country is moving West,” therefore it "deserves" to go first, The Epoch Times reported. 

Meanwhile, New Hampshire which has a law that requires its primary be held at least seven days ahead of a “similar election” will work hard to ensure they keep their position of being the first in the country, the Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said.

“New Hampshire takes seriously every suggestion that we should not retain our first-in-the-nation status, and we believe that we have a strong argument for the Granite State to retain its place. The level of engagement involved in the electorate here is significantly different than anywhere else, and I think that is one of the arguments why New Hampshire should remain first. We will continue to work hard to ensure New Hampshire retains its first-in-the-nation status, and we’re confident we will succeed,” he said in an emailed statement, according to The Epoch Times. 

The Secretary of State Bill Gardner, a Democrat, shared the history of New Hampshire's first state status.

“There have been laws over the years in other states to have a primary the same days as ours. We’ve had states move up and then back. We’ve had states try to move ahead of us and there have been bills in state legislatures concerning moving their dates. But we’ve been first for over 100 years," he told WMUR, The Epoch Times reported. 

According to The Epoch Times, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said he has “full confidence that New Hampshire will continue to serve as the gold standard with another first-in-the-nation primary next election cycle.”