By PAUL HAMMEL
Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Democratic Party is bidding to be among the first presidential primaries in 2024.
The party announced Thursday that its executive committee has submitted a letter of intent to the Democratic National Committee to make Nebraska one of the early states conducting its primaries prior to Super Tuesday in early March 2024.
The Democratic National Committee recently decided to open up bidding for the earliest primaries, asking states to explain why they should be included among a batch of five states to hold the first primaries.
Since 1972, the Iowa caucuses have led off the primary season, followed by voting in New Hampshire. More recently, Nevada and South Carolina have also held primaries when New Hampshire does.
Jane Kleeb, who chairs the Nebraska state party, said Nebraska should be among the first primaries because if Democrats “want to win everywhere, we need to compete everywhere” and to show they can win in more than “the coasts” and a “handful of battleground states.”
“Nebraska is in the middle of everywhere with an inexpensive media market combined with key demographics from union, to ag, to military and communities of color,” Kleeb said in a press release.