On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the Latino Victory Fund, the Collective PAC and AAPI Victory Fund sent a letter to the Democratic National Committee urging them to approve the new 2024 Democratic presidential primary calendar at the upcoming Winter meeting in Philadelphia.

“We applaud the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee’s work in recent months to pass the most diverse early states calendar ever. We urge the full DNC membership to support this new calendar and embrace President Biden’s vision for finally updating the first month of our presidential nominating calendar,” the letter read. 

The groups call on the DNC membership to ratify and approve the proposed calendar that would put South Carolina and Nevada at the top of the calendar. 

This would ensure that all nationwide Latino, Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander voters are adequately represented during the nearing Democratic primary elections.

“As the leaders of national organizations representing Black, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander voters, we have been vocal about the importance of making the Democratic Party more inclusive and more representative of its own voters,” the letter read. 

“It is for that reason that we endorsed putting more diverse states at the front of the presidential primary calendar for 2024 and beyond,” it continued. 

The calendar puts emphasis on states with large communities of Black, Latino, and AAPI voters or as the letter puts it, “states that look like the rest of America.” 

“By putting South Carolina and Nevada at the very front of the early window, you have challenged the status quo of the past 50 years and made sure that we put real representation over tradition. This will benefit our future nominees, the next generation of campaign staff, and our entire party by ensuring that the base of the Democratic Party is prioritized in this process,” the letter read. 

The groups also make it clear that more so now has it ever been critical that the committee approve the proposal as well as work to confirm that states will follow the calendar as ratified at the upcoming DNC Winter Meeting. 

“While there is more work to be done to make this plan a reality, we are confident that this primary calendar will be one that most accurately reflects our nation’s diversity and the voices of voters of color,” the letter concludes. 

The proposal has received support from the DNC’s Southern Caucus ahead of the final vote on Saturday, Jan. 28. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, eight members of the DNC’s Southern Caucus leadership team, which is composed of state party chairs and DNC members from North Carolina to Texas, released a statement first obtained by POLITICO that endorsed President Biden’s change to make South Carolina the first primary of the calendar year instead of Iowa. 

“The past few elections have made it abundantly clear that the South is the new Democratic battleground, and by starting the presidential nominating process in South Carolina and incorporating Georgia into the early lineup, our party will only strengthen its commitment to these critical voters,” the statement reads in part. 

However, there has been resistance from New Hampshire Democrats about — if approved — having to share the second slot with Nevada, in front of new early states Michigan and Georgia. 

Even a few Democrats, such as Bernie Sanders’ former campaign manager Faiz Shakir, have been outspoken about the repercussions of putting South Carolina, a red state, in the first slot. 

“The road to the White House runs through the South, and this calendar will ensure that the Democratic nominee is fortified for the general election,” the statement concludes.