16 states and Puerto Rico pitch themselves to go first on the Democratic presidential nominating calendar

Democratic Party leaders are meeting this week to hear pitches from 16 states and Puerto Rico, which want to hold the first presidential nominating contests in 2024, as the party moves forward with reevaluating its primary schedule.

The focus will especially be on Iowa, which is proposing dramatic changes to its complicated system as it aims to maintain its “first in the nation” status in the face of criticism of the caucus process and of the state’s lack of diversity and competitiveness at the presidential level.

Democratic Party officials earlier this year approved a plan that requires any state that wants to hold a