Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz answers questions during a June 5, 2025, interview with States Newsroom staff in Minneapolis. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Thursday Democrats need to take a broader approach to the states they are targeting during elections — which could mean further changes to the presidential nominating calendar.
Speaking with Minnesota Reformer editor Patrick Coolican at a States Newsroom conference in Minneapolis, the 2024 vice presidential candidate tackled multiple topics related to President Donald Trump’s time in office. He also discussed ways for the Democratic Party to bounce back after significant Republican wins in 2024, including Trump’s win over his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
One of the major questions leading up to the 2028 presidential election season — especially for Iowa — is the Democratic presidential nominating calendar. Following issues in the 2020 Democratic caucuses and Democratic National Committee concerns about the accessibility of the caucus system, Iowa was booted from it’s longtime first-in-the-nation position in the Democratic nominating calendar in 2022, replaced by South Carolina.
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When asked by Iowa Capital Dispatch Editor-in-Chief Kathie Obradovich which state should go first, Walz immediately quipped, “Minnesota.” But in a longer response, the Democratic governor said he believes Democrats should rotate which states kick off the nominating process each presidential election cycle — a process he said may not be popular in states that may not traditionally have held early contests, but could improve Democrats’ odds in elections.
He reflected on how in his 2024 run with Harris, winning the presidency came down to winning a handful of contested states.
“On the calendar, I think you can’t be too rigid,” Walz said. “And it was … I don’t know if the word is depressing, but going to the seven states over and over and over again, and recognizing that you could win a presidential election or lose one doing that — I think we’ve got to be broader.”
Iowa Democrats made changes to the caucus system, moving from in-person events to a mail-in presidential preference contest in 2024, but there is not any indication the DNC plans to reinstate Iowa as an early state in the next nominating cycle. However, Iowa and other states that were not a part of the early state lineup in 2024 will have a chance to take a top position in 2028. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart and other Iowa officials have said the DNC plans to revisit the calendar leading up to the next presidential election.
Though Iowa is still in the running, a potential blow was dealt to the state with Iowa Democrat Scott Brennan losing his longtime seat on the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee, the body overseeing the nominating calendar, the Des Moines Register reported.
Walz said he is not running as a Democratic presidential candidate, he has made visits to many of the traditional early states, including a May Democratic Party event in South Carolina and March event in Des Moines. He is not the only speculated 2028 Democratic presidential candidate to visit Iowa in recent months — former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who won the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses, held an event in Cedar Rapids in May.
Walz is also not the only person who thinks changes Democratic presidential nominating calendar would serve the party well in future elections. Chris Cillizza, a political commentator who formerly worked for CNN, said during a Potluck Podcast episode Monday with members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative that it was “very clear” former President Joe Biden moved South Carolina to the front of the calendar in 2024 “because South Carolina and Jim Clyburn got him elected president” in 2020.
However, Biden ultimately was not the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024, Cillizza said, and recent Democratic losses for the presidency with Harris and Hillary Clinton in 2024 show states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania are crucial to winning the general election. He said he believes Iowa should go first because “if you’re if you’re a Democrat trying to solve your broader problems, I think Iowa going first would help, not hurt” in the fight to win Midwestern states.
He said he believes this strategy has been reflected with the potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates visiting traditional early states like Iowa.
When I look at travel schedules now, they’re acting as though we’re back to the pre-Joe Biden nominating calendar — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina,” Cillizza said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if it went back to that. I mean, look, I actually think there’s a case to be made.”
However, he said he is not sure about the DNC chair Ken Martin’s strategy heading into 2028. Martin, elected in February, is from Minnesota, which Cillizza said “probably helps a little bit in the case for the Midwest.”
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