Feb 24, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Harry Reid calls for the Democratic Party to end caucuses

Rebecca Falconer

Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid after voting after voting in the Nevada Democratic presidential caucuson February 15, 2020 in Las Vegas — Harry Reid after voting in the Nevada Democratic presidential caucus in Las Vegas. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a statement to news outlets Sunday "it's time for the Democratic Party to move to primaries everywhere" and ditch the caucus system.

Why it matters: Reid remains the functional head of the Nevada Democrats. He's also "responsible for Nevada's caucuses occupying the third slot on the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar," the New York Times notes.

The big picture: Iowa's Democratic Party chair resigned this month after software failures and reporting errors delayed caucus results, prompting requests by Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders for a partial recanvass. Sanders requested Tuesday a recount of those recanvass results.

There were also complaints about the caucuses in Nevada.
Buttigieg asked the Nevada State Democratic Party to release early and in-person vote totals by precinct and address certain caucus errors identified by campaigns.

Of note: Per the NYT, "The Democratic National Committee will not take up the matter of which states will get to go first in the next presidential contest until at least 2021, and no vote on the issue is likely until 2022." But Reid remains an influential figure in the Democratic Party.

Go deeper: ACRONYM co-founder Tara McGowan on Iowa caucus app

Add Axios on Google

Harry Reid calls for the Democratic Party to end caucuses

What to read next