IA GOP officially schedules cacus for Jan. 3; SC Dems may move to Jan. 26

[Mr. Morden]

The IA GOP got sick of waiting on the IA Dems to decide when they want to caucus, and have unilaterally scheduled their caucus for Thursday, January 3rd, regardless of what the IA Dems do:

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/NEWS/71016012/1001/NEWS11

Traditionally, the two parties caucus on the same day, but it's not required that they do so, so the IA Dems might well caucus on a different day.  Officially the IA Dems are still scheduled to go on Jan. 14th, but they'll likely move up to earlier in the month (if not Jan. 3, then a different day) to stay ahead of other states.

Meanwhile, the SC Dems are looking to move up their primary from Jan. 29th to Jan. 26th if the DNC gives them permission to do so, and it sounds like they've been informally told that getting permission to make the change shouldn't be a problem:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gupAPu9fwxiEZu-DVuJgN3-ikTRAD8SAKB600

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[Mr. Morden]

In conjunction with the SC Dems' decision to move to no earlier than Jan. 26th, NV will be staying put on Jan. 19th:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2007/oct/16/101610886.html

So now we have:

Jan. 3 Iowa caucus (GOP)
Jan. 15 Michigan primary (both parties, but the DNC won't count the Dem. primary results)
Jan. 19 Nevada caucus (both parties), SC primary (GOP)
Jan. 29 Florida primary (both parties, but the DNC won't count the Dem. primary results)
Feb. 5 Super Tuesday (both parties), about half the country votes on this day

The three pieces of the puzzle we're waiting on:

Iowa caucus (Dems).....probably Jan. 3 or 5??
NH primary (both parties)......maybe Jan. 8??
SC primary (Dems)......tentatively Jan. 29, but they've asked the DNC for permission to move it up to Jan. 26, and it sounds like they'll probably get it

[Joe Biden 2020]

When are the deadlines for Iowa Democrats and New Hampshire to set their caucus and primaries?

[Mr. Morden]

As far as the DNC is concerned, the dates are already set....Jan. 14 and 22 respectively.  But IA and NH are planning on just ignoring that, and setting their dates for whenever they feel like it, at any time they like.  The only deadline they have is the logistical one of how long it takes to set up a primary or caucus.  NH SoS Bill Gardner has indicated that he plans on making a decision some time next month.  As for the IA Dems, I have no idea when they'll decide.