Election News

Iowa Republicans voted Saturday to hold party caucuses on January 15, 2024. This coincides with the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, and will be the earliest kickoff to the presidential calendar since 2012.

IT'S OFFICIAL: the date for the 2024 Republican Iowa Caucus has been set for January 15, 2024!

— Iowa GOP (@IowaGOP) July 8, 2023

The 2024 Presidential Election Calendar has been updated to reflect this finalized date.

With its caucuses, Iowa has held the earliest nominating contests since 1972. This has been followed by New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary. Both parties have also traditionally held these events on the same day.

It is still unclear how this dynamic will play out in 2024. National Democrats voted earlier this year to upend the calendar, placing South Carolina first on February 3. However, Iowa Democrats have previously said they will caucus on the same day as Republicans, which would be out of compliance with the national party. 

The initial 2024 Electoral College Ratings from the team at Sabato's Crystal Ball were released Thursday. The forecaster sees the trend of the last few elections continuing. As they put it in the conclusion of their analysis, "[the reality is] that despite the nation being locked in a highly competitive era of presidential elections, the lion’s share of the individual states are not competitive at all."

Only four states, with 43 electoral votes, start out as toss-up: Georgia (16), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10), and Nevada (6). The first three were the closest in the 2020 presidential election, with Joe Biden prevailing in each by less than 1%. Another 56 electoral votes lean for one party or the other.

The remaining 439 electoral votes are effectively off the board as things look today. These are nearly evenly split, with 221 electoral votes safe or likely for Democrats, 218 in those same categories for Republicans.

We've added 2024 election calendars to the site, along with content associated with the party nomination process.

Much of this information is preliminary. Expect some changes in calendar dates, contest types, delegate counts and allocations as states and political parties finalize their schedules.

Thanks to FHQ, The Green Papers, and NCSL for making it much easier to compile this content. 

Today (June 24) marks 500 days until the presidential election, scheduled for November 5, 2024.

For the second consecutive Thursday, Tennessee is holding a special primary election. 

Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. 

Tennessee State House District 3

Former Rep. Will Hurd announced Thursday that he is running for president. He joins a Republican field of candidates now numbering into the double-digits. 

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware launched her candidacy for U.S. Senate on Wednesday. She is looking to follow fellow Democrat, Sen. Tom Carper, who announced his retirement about a month ago.

I’m running to represent Delaware in the United States Senate.

I’m filled with Bright Hope for our future. But a more perfect union isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. Let’s go on it together.

Join me ?? https://t.co/tymKWayXko pic.twitter.com/VeXvchGV0v

— Lisa Blunt Rochester (@LisaBRochester) June 21, 2023

The move is not unexpected, as Carper endorsed Blunt Rochester in his retirement speech. She has also received encouragement from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. As a result, no serious competition for the Democratic nomination is expected,  and she will be strongly favored to succeed Carper in this deep blue state. 

Per the AP, "there are no Black women currently serving in the Senate, and, if elected, Blunt Rochester would be only the third Black woman to have served in the chamber, after Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and Kamala Harris of California." 

Blunt Rochester is in her 4th term as Delaware's sole U.S. House representative. She won reelection by about 13% in 2022. While the field has yet to develop to succeed her, the eventual Democratic nominee is likely to be favored. Republicans last carried the seat in 2008.

Tuesday is primary day in Virginia. Both chambers of the General Assembly are competitive in terms of partisan control, making it it unique among the four states holding legislative elections this year. 

Separately, residents of Kansas City will elect a mayor in Tuesday's election.

Virginia Primary

As the Washington Post reports, Tuesday's primary elections "will be the first time voters have encountered the state’s new electoral maps, which were drawn under supervision of the Supreme Court of Virginia after a bipartisan panel appointed by the legislature failed to reach agreement."

The Post goes on to say that "the new boundaries for the House of Delegates and Senate put incumbent lawmakers in new districts, pitted some veterans against one another and created wide-open new districts, triggering a wave of retirements and guaranteeing at least a third of both chambers will be rookies."

Polls close at 7:00 PM. Winners will advance to the November 7 general election.

Earlier this year, two Democratic legislators in the Tennessee House of Representatives were expelled after - according to the resolution - circumventing House rules. State Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were attempting to advocate for gun control in the wake of a deadly shooting the prior week at a Nashville elementary school.

Both were subsequently reinstated by local officials. However, those were interim appointments until special elections could be held.

That process - which will almost certainly end with both Representatives being reelected - begins Thursday with primaries in these two Districts.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez filed with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday to join the 2024 presidential race. He will be the third candidate from Florida to seek the Republican nomination, although he starts with much less name recognition than former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Suarez, easily reelected to a second term as Miami's mayor in 2021, will also be the first Hispanic in the race. He is scheduled to give a speech at the Reagan Library on Thursday.

A super PAC supporting Suarez was also announced Wednesday, and it released this ad.