Daily Archives: June 5, 2022

When Joe Biden was hitting the campaign trail in 2020, he bragged about how during his decades in the U.S. Senate he was able to work with right-wing Republicans, find common ground and get productive legislation passed. Many of today's MAGA Republicans, in contrast, brag about refusing to compromise with Democrats and act as though millions of Democratic voters simply don't exist or don't matter.

That mindset was evident when Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, made aJune 2 appearance on One America News a cable news outlet that's known for promoting far-right conspiracy theories and prides itself on being to the right of Fox News and Fox Business. OAN's Kara McKinney brought Wax on the show "Tipping Point," which she hosts, to discuss gun control, and Wax's comments went beyond the usual gun lobby and National Rifle Association (NRA) talking points.

Wax told McKinney, "We certainly have a lower rate of mass shooting from many other countries across the world, and if you take out some of the big cities in the U.S. and the gang and drug-related instances of mass shootings, the United States is actually one of the safest places in the world. But of course, you know, the Democrats and the media are going to politicize and weaponize this issue because their end goal is to disarm law-abiding U.S. citizens and make us a less free country as a result."

First, the U.S. is much more violent than countries in Europe are known for being. Residents of the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Sweden and many other European countries are horrified by how common mass shootings are in the U.S., where a May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas left 19 children and two teachers dead. It came less than two weeks after a May 14mass shooting in Buffalo, New Yorkthat claimed ten lives.

Second, Wax's comments showed total indifference to residents of major urban areas, many of whom vote Democrat. Those comments reflect a MAGA mindset that the concerns of voters don't count if they live in large cities.

But Wax is hardly the only Republican who thinks that way. Just as Wax implied that voters who are worried about violence don't count if they are urban dwellers,Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisianarecently commented that his state's high rate of maternal mortality isn't bad if you don't focus too heavily on African-American women.

Cassidy, in May, told Politico that when it comes to pregnancy-related deaths, "If you correct our population for race, we're not as much of an outlier as it'd otherwise appear."

Journalist Tat Bellamy-Walker, reporting on Cassidy for NBC News, explained, "Louisiana has some of the highest Black maternal death rates in the country. Areport from the state's health departmentshows that four Black mothers die for every White mother and two Black babies die for every one White baby. In the United States, Black mothers are three times more likely to die in childbirth than White mothers."

The fact that so many of the maternal deaths in Louisiana involve African-American women doesn't mean that Louisiana doesn't have a major problem with maternal deaths; in fact, it underscores the problem.

Following the 2020 presidential election, far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit seeking tothrow out millions of votesin four states that Biden won: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. The fact that Biden was the clear favorite in Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee and Atlanta all of which have a lot of Black voters didn't matter to Paxton, who couldn't have cared less about the will of voters in those cities. And he wanted their votes invalidated.

In aop-ed/essay published by the New York Timeson June 3, journalist Mimi Swartz executive editor of the Texas Monthly expresses her extreme frustration with Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing that he is totally indifferent to millions of Texans who aren't "hard-right culture warriors."

During his June 2 appearance on OAN, Wax angrily railed against "RINOs" (Republican in Name Only) who are willing to work with Democrats on gun control legislation. Wax's mindset is very much an us-versus-them mentality, and in today's Republican Party, it isn't at all uncommon.

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To the right-wing, Democrat votes don't count - Salon

Former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) went against his party to condemn Hunter Biden's involvement in Ukrainian energy company Burisma as a conflict of interest.

Rose, who was ousted in the 2020 elections from his seat in a swing district covering Staten Island, said the New York Post got a "raw deal" when its report on Biden's laptop being abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware was censored across several social media. Other organizations have since corroborated the October 2020 report showing evidence that Biden and his father, who was the vice president at the time, held a meeting with Burisma Holdings adviser Vadym Pozharskyi.

"There is no doubt in my mind that what Hunter Biden did was wrong, being on the Burisma board and engaging in whatever else he dealt with, Rose said.

ADDICTION, INFIDELITY, AND SHAME: HUNTER BIDEN'S EX-WIFE OPENS UP ABOUT MARRIAGE

The former congressman served in President Joe Biden's administration as a senior adviser on COVID-19 to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. After serving in the administration for a year, Rose gave the president a "B-" grade.

"Theres no doubt that the actual execution of the withdrawal was tragic in nature," the former Afghan veteran said. "It was difficult to see."

Rose, who is running against his successor, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), to reclaim the Staten Island district, alluded to other members of his party shying away from tough primary battles. He swiped at the decision of Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), who represents the 17th Congressional District, not to run in either of the newly drawn 16th or 18th Districts after the map was finalized in the wake of the 2020 census, but rather to run in the 10th District, roughly 40 miles south of his home.

What kind of message does it send when Democrats run away to different districts because they think having to earn the votes of Republicans and independents means their political career is over? Rose said Monday. If we can only win in seats where Joe Biden won by more than 10 points, then we will never build the coalition we need to end gun violence, protect a womans right to choose, and make this country affordable. And frankly, the Democratic Party doesnt deserve to win if its willing to give up earning the trust of every American.

The centrist backs some preferred Republican policies, such as hardening schools with increased security and increasing drilling on U.S. soil to relieve high gas prices.

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Democrats across New York have scrambled to find new home districts after the lines drawn by a special master were finalized in late May. The new map drew the homes of some representatives, including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, out of the districts they represent and pitted incumbents, notably longtime Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, against each other.

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'What Hunter Biden did was wrong': Democrat blasts the first son - Washington Examiner

Kevin Rinkes latest campaign ad is nothing if not eye-catching.

The ad, designed to bolster the Michigan car dealers campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, features Rinke standing next to an actor made up to look like a zombie wearing a Biden-Harris T-shirt and multiple "I voted" stickers.

"Why is it that dead people always vote Democrat(ic)?" Rinke says, motioning to the zombie with bugged-out eyes and a wide-open mouth. Rinke goes on to accuse Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of failing to crack down on voter fraud, saying that if he wins the governorship, hell make sure that voters are "registered, identified and alive."

Katie Martin, a spokesperson for the Rinke campaign, said that a "quick Google search will show multiple news articles on deceased voters voting in elections."

Ballots cast on behalf of dead people does happen, though its a tiny fraction of all votes. However, a Google search like the one the Rinke campaign requested actually shows that its assertion that dead people "always" vote Democratic is itself a zombie claim and no less mythical than an actual zombie.

"This ad is so incorrect it gave me a headache," said Thessalia Merivaki, a political scientist at Mississippi State University who studies voter fraud. She said there is "zero evidence" that ballots cast by dead people account for more than a tiny fraction of all votes recorded, and theres also "zero evidence" that such ballots have uniformly been cast in favor of Democrats, Merivaki added.

Allegations of voter fraud in Michigan

Politicians aligned with former President Donald Trump have consistently raised the specter of voter fraud to explain how Trump could have lost the state to Joe Biden by more than 154,000 votes in the 2020 presidential race after winning it in 2016. But none of these claims hold water.

For instance, a viral tweet said Wayne County home to Detroit saw thousands of ballots cast by deceased voters. However, the list contained names of voters outside the county; several were not listed as ever having received or cast an absentee ballot; and at least one voter listed said she was alive and cast a ballot in the election.

The Michigan Secretary of States office has previously said that it is "not aware of a single confirmed case showing that a ballot was actually cast on behalf of a deceased individual in the state."

Officials have ways to flag deceased voters, and clerks across the state successfully identified thousands of voters who submitted absentee ballots in 2020 but died before Election Day. Their ballots werent counted. In total, clerks across Michigan rejected 3,469 absentee ballots cast by people who were alive when they returned them but died before Election Day on Nov. 3, 2020.

A review by Michigans Office of the Auditor General thoroughly debunked charges by Trump and his allies that thousands of ballots were cast on behalf of dead Michigan voters in the 2020 election. The vast majority 98.8% of votes cast by those who died before the 2020 election passed away less than 40 days before Election Day.

Ballots cast on behalf of dead voters are rare in other states, too. Merivaki pointed to a 2021 study of Washington states vote-by-mail program, a system that is used statewide. The analysis found "extraordinarily low rates of potential fraud related to deceased individuals ballots."

The study concluded that "among roughly 4.5 million distinct voters in Washington state (2011-18), we estimate that there are 14 deceased individuals whose ballots might have been cast suspiciously long after their death, representing 0.0003% of voters. Even these few cases may reflect two individuals with the same name and birth date, or clerical errors, rather than fraud."

An official review in Georgia found that in the 2020 election, just four absentee ballots were cast on behalf of deceased voters.

What fraud cases do exist include many examples of voters acting in grief over the loss of a relative.

For instance, in Pierce County, Washington, auditor Julie Anderson found five instances of ballot fraud on behalf of dead voters in the 2020 election, several of which were cast by "a household member who firmly believes their loved one would have wanted to vote and wanted to participate," the Tacoma News-Tribune reported. (The newspaper did not report the partisan affiliation of the voters.)

What is the partisan affiliation of ballots cast for dead voters?

States like Michigan typically make public whether a voter has cast a ballot in a given election, but they do not specify for whom an individual has voted. In fact, the government doesnt even know how someone voted because a marked-up absentee ballot is removed from its envelope before being counted, a process that separates specific votes cast from a voters identifying information.

When we combed news reports in recent years for cases of ballot fraud on behalf of deceased voters, we found that Republicans were more often the perpetrators. This does not mean that only Republicans perpetrate this kind of fraud; ours is not a scientific study, and its possible that other occurrences, by either Democrats or Republicans, have not been detected or reported on. (One study commissioned by WBBM-TV in Chicago found that 119 ballots were cast on behalf of dead people in the city over the decade ending in 2016; while the city is heavily Democratic, the partisan leanings of the perpetrators are unclear.)

Regardless, the presence of any Republicans committing this sort of voter fraud is enough to undercut Rinkes sweeping statement that only Democrats do it.

Here are some examples:

Nevada: In the aftermath of Bidens roughly 34,000-vote win over Trump in Nevada, Donald Kirk Hartle, a Republican, told KLAS-TV that he was "surprised" to see that his wife cast a ballot "because she passed away three years ago. That is pretty sickening to me, to be honest with you."

While Hartles story quickly gained attention from GOP leaders and pundits who were questioning the results of the states presidential vote, the tale eventually fell apart, as investigators concluded that Hartle himself had cast the fraudulent ballot.

Hartle pleaded guilty to one count of voting more than once in an election, receiving a sentence of probation and a $2,000 fine.

Pennsylvania: Bruce Bartman from Marple voted on behalf of his late mother in the 2020 presidential election. He pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting and was sentenced to five years of probation.

Bartman said his illegal vote was cast for Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported. He also registered his late mother-in-law but did not secure an absentee ballot for her.

Bartman apologized, telling the court, "I was isolated last year in lockdown. I listened to too much propaganda and made a stupid mistake."

Meanwhile, in August 2021, a man from the Wilkes-Barre area pleaded guilty to a third-degree misdemeanor not for voting fraudulently but for filing an absentee ballot application in the name of his late mother. The application cited a need to vote absentee because the mans mother was purportedly "visiting great grand kids Oct. 24-Nov. 10."

The defendant, Robert Richard Lynn, was a registered Republican, the Times-Leader newspaper reported, citing state records. He was sentenced to six months of probation and 40 hours of community service.

Florida: In 2020, voter Larry Wiggins of Manatee County tried to "test" the system by requesting a ballot for his late wife. "I heard so much about ballots being sent in and people just having found them in different places," Wiggins told WFLA-TV. "I feel like I havent done anything wrong." He told the Tampa station, "I said, Well, let me just send it in and see whats going to happen, to see if theyre actually going to send a ballot for her to vote."

The request was flagged by the local elections office when it went through standard identity checks, so Wiggins did not receive a ballot. Instead, his case received a criminal referral. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 24 months of probation and 100 hours of community service.

Wiggins told WFLA that he was a Democrat who supported Trump.

Arizona: Tracey Kay McKee of Phoenix cast her late mothers ballot in the 2020 general election. She was sentenced to two years of probation, fines and community service.

Both McKee and her recently deceased mother were registered Republicans, the Associated Press reported. In court, prosecutors noted that McKee railed against absentee voting during an interview with investigators in which she denied casting the ballot herself, saying, "I dont believe that this was a fair election. I do believe there was a lot of voter fraud."

Colorado: In 2017, a woman from Golden pleaded guilty to voting twice for her late father. Toni Lee Newbill had cast ballots in the 2013 general election and the 2016 Republican primary.

Our ruling

Rinke said, "Dead people always vote Democrat."

Not every case of voting on behalf of the dead has been discovered, adjudicated in court, and received media coverage. However, six cases that have surfaced during the past five years produced either a plea of guilty or no contest, and in each case the defendant was either a registered Republican or acknowledged voting for Trump.

Even this small number of cases is enough to invalidate Rinkes sweeping statement that only Democrats do this.

We rate the statement False.

RELATED: All of our fact-checks about elections

RELATED: All of our fact-checks about Michigan

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Debunking the zombie claim that 'dead people always vote Democrat' - PolitiFact

ATLANTA One look at the results of Georgias primary election last week led many Republicans to believe it was the product of Democratic meddling. Former President Donald J. Trumps recruited challengers lost in grand fashion in his most sought-after races: David Perdue was routed by Gov. Brian Kemp by more than 50 percentage points, while Representative Jody Hice fell to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger by nearly 20.

Mr. Trump and his allies pointed to so-called Democratic crossover voters as the cause of their shellackings. In Georgias open primary system, Democrats and Republicans can vote in the other partys primary if they wish, and more than 37,000 people cast early ballots in this years Republican primary election after voting in the Democratic primary in 2020.

Some Democrats, for their part, staked a claim to these voters, arguing that they had crossed over to strategically support candidates who reject Mr. Trumps falsehoods about the 2020 election. Most of the crossover voters, the Democrats said, would return to the party in November.

But a closer look at these voters paints a more complicated picture. Just 7 percent of those who voted early during last months Republican primary cast ballots for Democrats in that partys 2020 primary election, according to the data firm L2. And 70 percent of this years crossover voters who cast early ballots in the G.O.P. primary had participated in both Democratic and Republican primaries over the last decade.

These voters, data suggests, are less Republican traitors or stalwart Democrats aiming to stop Trump loyalists than they are highly sought-after and unpredictable swing voters.

I didnt want any of the Trumpsters becoming a candidate, said Frances Cooper, 43, who voted in Columbia County, two hours east of Atlanta.

A self-described moderate, Ms. Cooper said that she had voted in both Democratic and Republican primaries in the past, and that she could often vote either way. This time, she said, Mr. Kemp had been pretty good, and was the best of our options. She was undecided about the November general election for governor, but if anything leaning toward Kemp.

Voters like Ms. Cooper base their choices in every election on multiple variables: their political leanings, how competitive one partys primary might be or the overall environment in any given election year, among others. Some Democratic voters in deep-red counties opted for a Republican ballot because they believed it would be a more effective vote. Others, frustrated with leadership in Washington, voted according to their misgivings.

Many unknowns still remain. The current data on crossover voters includes only those who cast ballots during Georgias three-week early voting period, when the most politically engaged people tend to vote. In addition to traditional swing voters or disaffected Democrats, a portion of those who crossed over were indeed probably Democratic voters switching strategically to the Republican primary to spite the former president.

Yet the crossover voters who cast early ballots in last months Republican primary are not demographically representative of Georgias multiracial Democratic base, which also includes a growing number of young voters. Fifty-five percent of these early crossover voters were above the age of 65, and 85 percent were white, according to voter registration data. Less than 3 percent were between the ages of 18 and 29.

It is unclear whether a majority of these voters will return to support Democrats this November, as some in the party expect, or whether they will vote again for Republicans in large numbers.

I think theres a real danger on the part of Democrats in Georgia to just assume that they arent going to lose some of those voters from 2020, said Erik Iverson, a Republican pollster who works with Georgia campaigns.

No race has attracted more debate about crossover voting than the Republican primary for secretary of state, in which Mr. Raffensperger, the incumbent, who had rejected attempts to subvert the 2020 election, defeated Mr. Hice, a Trump-endorsed challenger.

Though Mr. Raffensperger won by almost 20 points, he escaped being forced into a runoff election by finishing with 52.3 percent of the vote, or 2.3 percent above the majority threshold that would have prompted a runoff.

Operatives on both sides of the aisle have speculated that crossover voting was a chief reason that Mr. Raffensperger avoided a runoff. But drawing such a conclusion ignores the many reasons for crossover voting in Georgia, and probably overestimates the number of true Democrats voting for Mr. Raffensperger.

That would be an awful lot of crossover voting, said Scott H. Ainsworth, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia, adding that Mr. Raffenspergers nearly 30,000-vote margin to avoid a runoff had most likely been spurred by more than just meandering former Democratic primary voters.

Still, that hasnt dissuaded some from pointing to crossover voters as a root cause of Mr. Raffenspergers success.

Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican who founded the group Country First, which supports pro-democracy G.O.P. candidates, cited the Georgia secretary of states victory as proof of his organizations effectiveness.

Why are these midterms so important? This years races could tip the balance of power in Congress to Republicans, hobbling President Bidens agenda for the second half of his term. They will also test former President Donald J. Trumps role as a G.O.P. kingmaker. Heres what to know:

What are the midterm elections? Midterms take place two years after a presidential election, at the midpoint of a presidential term hence the name. This year, a lot of seats are up for grabs, including all 435 House seats, 35 of the 100 Senate seats and 36 of 50 governorships.

What do the midterms mean for Biden? With slim majorities in Congress, Democrats have struggled to pass Mr. Bidens agenda. Republican control of the House or Senate would make the presidents legislative goals a near-impossibility.

What are the races to watch? Only a handful of seats will determine if Democrats maintain control of the House over Republicans, and a single state could shift power in the 50-50 Senate. Here are 10 races to watch in the Houseand Senate, as well as several key governors contests.

When are the key races taking place? The primary gauntletis already underway. Closely watched racesin Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia wereheld in May, with more taking place through the summer. Primaries run until September before the general election on Nov. 8.

Go deeper. What is redistrictingand how does it affect the midterm elections? How does polling work? How do you register to vote? Weve got more answers to your pressing midterm questions here.

I have no doubt we made the impact, Mr. Kinzinger said. His group distributed mailers, sent text messages and ran television ads in support of Mr. Raffensperger. The groups message to Georgia Democrats, who had largely noncompetitive races for governor and Senate, was to vote in the Republican primary instead. Mr. Kinzinger said the efforts helped Mr. Raffensperger avoid a runoff.

The organization has tried to lift candidates in states including Texas and North Carolina, where it successfully helped to oust Representative Madison Cawthorn. The group has plans to support candidates in Michigan and to defend Republican incumbents like Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Sometimes, the motivation for Democrats or Republicans to cross over into the other partys primary goes deeper than statewide contests. For example, if voters are drawn into a noncompetitive district, they will sometimes vote in the other partys primary if it will essentially determine the general election winner.

Take Clarke County in Georgia. Home to Athens, a Democratic-leaning city, the county is wholly contained in the 10th Congressional District, a decidedly Republican seat held by Mr. Hice (he did not run for re-election because he was running for secretary of state). In Clarke County, roughly 900 voters who cast early ballots in the Republican primary had voted in the Democratic primary in 2020, one of the largest county totals of crossover voters outside the Atlanta area.

Those voters, however, may not have been focused on the statewide races but on the closely contested primary election to replace Mr. Hice. Whoever prevailed in the multicandidate Republican primary was likely to win in November in a district that Mr. Hice carried by 25 points in 2020.

Theres a lot of Democrats in Athens and Clarke County who will have no meaningful voice in their choice for Congress unless they vote in the primary, said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University. There are probably some Democratic voters who were just voting quite rationally in the sense that they wanted their voice heard in a House race, and that is their only meaningful opportunity to do so.

Nate Cohn contributed reporting.

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A Georgia Mystery: How Many Democrats Voted in the G.O.P. Primary? - The New York Times

Twenty state Democratic parties are moving forward with efforts to be the first to vote in the 2024 presidential Democratic primaries a potential change that will attract more attention if President Biden decides not to run for reelection.

All four of the states that have kicked off the nominating process since 2008, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, confirmed to CBS News that they are submitting applications to remain in the early window.

Iowa is fighting to keep its first-in-the-nation status, following the chaotic caucuses in 2020, when ittook days to release resultsdue to an issue with reporting software. Some Democrats have said that Iowa's lack of diversity and competitiveness during recent general elections should also cost the state its spot.

Fourteen other states, Puerto Rico and Democrats Abroad are also vying for the early window. They indicated in early May that they wanted to be among the first nominating contests. Applications are due by the end of the day on Friday.

The states that have confirmed they're turning in their applications include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) approved criteria in April for selecting up to five states to be in the early window. The committee's three main criteria for selecting the states will be diversity, competitiveness and feasibility. At least one state is to be selected from the East, Midwest, South and West regions.

Multiple sources told CBS News that Michigan and Minnesota are both considered strong candidates and at least one of them could get into the early window. If one of those states were to move into the early window, it's unclear what impact that would have on Iowa, another Midwestern state, which has held the first nominating contest for decades.

Michigan would need approval from its legislature, which is currently controlled by Republicans, to move the primary date. A source familiar told CBS News that Michigan Democrats are working with a lobbying firm to help with their presentation and the GOP issue.

For Minnesota to move its primary date, the state's Democratic and Republican party chairs would have to reach an agreement. The fact that the state does not have to rely on a GOP state legislature to change their primary date is a selling point for its pitch to the DNC.

Minnesota's Democratic Party has been in ongoing talks with its GOP counterparts. A source familiar with the party's bid says Republicans recognize "the significant benefits that would come with being an early primary state."

David Hann, the chair of the Minnesota Republican Party, told CBS News that he spoke with Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin about the Democrats' efforts to move up into the early window. But he said that he hasn't been officially asked about moving the date and would want to know what the RNC rules would allow.

"We have not given any opinion about it," Hann said. "I'd want to talk to the Republican National Committee to find out exactly what rules may exist about our ability to change the primary date."

According to the RNC's rules, states that hold elections prior to March 1 "violate the calendar" and will lose delegates. There are avenues for them to apply for a waiver and be exempt from the rules.

While the Democrats are weighing significant changes to their early primary calendar, the Republican calendar will remain the same as it was in 2020, meaning Iowa Republicans will hold the first contest for the GOP.

Should the order of states changes, the effects may not be fully evident in 2024, when the president is expected to run for reelection. In that case, a few states could cancel their primaries if not enough challengers qualify for the ballot. Four states canceled their primaries in 2012, when President Obama was running for his second term.

The RBC will hear presentations on June 22 and 23 before making a decision on which states will enter the early window during its meetings on Aug. 5 and 6.

It's possible that not all parties that apply to get into the early window will have a chance to make their case in a presentation, according to an email obtained by CBS News that was sent to state parties in late May.

"RBC Co-Chairs Jim Roosevelt and Minyon Moore will select a subset of states to make presentations to the RBC during the June 22-24 meeting in Washington, DC," the email said. "The Co-Chairs will make their determination after applications are submitted by a date to be announced prior to the deadline. Parties not selected to present may contact Party Affairs to arrange a meeting with the Co-Chairs to discuss the determination."

Applicants were asked to address questions about diversity, competitiveness and feasibility, according to a document obtained by CBS News. The resolution approved in April defined diversity as racial, ethnic, geographic and economic diversity, as well as union representation.

The questions around competitiveness ask states how holding an early contest there would help Democrats in a presidential general election and to highlight any gains made by Democrats in the state since 2012. The feasibility questions asked how a primary date is set, how a date could be changed and whether there have been conversations with state officials about moving the primary into the early window.

For states that hold caucuses or party-run primaries, rather than state-run primaries, there are additional questions about why the state uses that method of voting, any changes that would be made for 2024 and the number of caucus or voting locations. Throughout the discussions about the early window, several RBC members and speakers on listening sessions were critical of the caucus process.

Another factor to be considered is the cost of television advertising in a state. That could especially impact states like Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Texas, which have especially large media markets.

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20 states vying to be first to vet 2024 Democratic presidential hopefuls - CBS News