Should Republicans have a big state primary first to reflect the nation?

[Suburbia]

Iowa and New Hampshire are two white states, not reflective of the nation. The GOP has a demographic problem, and in 2024, it may get worse.

Should they start in Illinois, New Jersey or Texas?

[Alcibiades]

Texas would be a good choice. It has a good mix of different GOP-voting groups, and as it moves to the Democrats, a first in the nation Republican primary could help keep them competitive, just as I suspect the Iowa caucus has contributed to making the state more Democratic than would expect.

[Roronoa D. Law]

Texas is to big and expensive to campaign in for it to be the first state in a primary. I think the first state should be WI, NH, UT, and SC. Republicans aren't in the same situation as Democrats because the GOP primary is very homogenous since virtually all Republican primaries are 80%+ white.

Republicans don't have the fortune of having a pro-establishment base like African Americans or the growing liberal to moderate elites. So the best bet is to push forward states with a more moderate GOP base like Mormons in UT, exurbanites in NH, the WOW dominate WI primary, and the wealthy retirees of SC.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

No. Even if the Diverse State Primary argument prevails, it should result in the selection of a diverse, smaller state. Starting in larger state primaries leaves less room for retail politics, outsider candidates, those with less ridiculous fundraising machines, etc.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This whole big state narrative falls completely short because of two major reasons.

1. It basically reduces the chances of any outsider candidate to get nominated unless they are a complete billionaire

2. I am not sure if you realize this, but minorities don't actually vote in Republican primaries in many states that are diverse. Even worse, those states with large minority populations that are Republican, then to have more race conscious voters driving their party politics then a less diverse state.

So actually in many opinion, Republicans are better off with Iowa and NH being first.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

New Mexico and Hawaii are both small states with a pretty large share of ethnic or racial minorities among Republican voters.

Of course no one wants to start with New Mexico or Hawaii.

[NewYorkExpress]

Like with the Democrats, Nevada would be a good choice for Republicans if they want to change the primary order.

South Carolina would also be a good choice too, as it's usually quite predictive for Republicans.