Around New England

Harry Reid Agrees New Hampshire Is Too White To Have First Primary

February 18, 2021

If former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had it his way, his home state of Nevada would be first in the nation in the Democratic presidential caucus — followed by South Carolina for a primary.

He told Politico this week that he doesn’t think Iowa and New Hampshire should hold those honors respectively. The reason:  they’re too white.

“There’s no reason in the world that those states should go forward so early, because they’re not representative of what 90 percent of the country’s all about,” Reid said. “America looks different than it did 50 years ago, when these traditions were put in place, and the Democratic electorate looks really different.”

He added, “It’s no longer palatable, as far as I’m concerned, for those states to take precedence over states like South Carolina and Nevada.”

The Politico story quoting Reid was published Thursday, February 18, four days after Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez was quoted Sunday, February 14 by Business Insider making similar comments.