CNN reporter suggests states could defy DNC primary calendar, says 'nobody' fears Ken Martin
CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere said Sunday that states, such as New Hampshire, could defy the national Democratic Party's primary calendar and said nobody was afraid of Ken Martin, the DNC chair.
CNN's Edward Isaac-Dovere suggested Sunday that states could buck the DNC's primary schedule and hold its elections whenever they want to, pointing to New Hampshire specifically, and said that "nobody" is scared of DNC Chair Ken Martin.
"There is the possibility that a state could choose to not follow the DNC here and hold its primary when they want to," Dovere said, as CNN host Manu Raju added that New Hampshire wanted to do this.
"And people saying, 'Hey, the DNC is broke. They can't do anything to help us anyway. Nobody is scared in any way of Ken Martin as the chair. And so maybe they'll just go and violate it.' It is not where the infrastructure of the party needs to be for going into 2026 and then 2028," Dovere added.
The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) panel, meeting in the nation's capital on Friday, picked South Carolina over Nevada to hold the party's first presidential nominating contest in 2028, a move that will likely maintain a key role in the primary calendar for Black voters, who are a crucial part of the Democrats' base.
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CNN's Edward Isaac-Dovere spoke during "Inside Politics" about how states were viewing the national arm of the Democratic Party on July 26, 2026. (CNN/InsidePolitics)
The decision came after intense lobbying by both states, and by New Hampshire and Iowa over the past year to hold the much-coveted lead-off Democratic primary in the race for the White House.
The battle between South Carolina and Nevada was seen as a struggle between rewarding Black voters and outreach to Latino voters, with whom President Donald Trump and Republicans made major gains in the 2024 election, handing Democrats major setbacks.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party pointed Fox News Digital to a statement they put out on Friday, in which New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley said that the national party didn't learn anything from 2024.
"Today’s vote shows that many party insiders have learned nothing from 2024. New Hampshire has a proven track record of testing our candidates with a rigorous, fair, and efficient process, yet those qualities did not prevail. This committee’s vote does not change the realities governing New Hampshire’s primary, which are beyond the control of both this committee and our state party," Buckley said.
Buckley continued, "Democrats’ guiding North Star should be winning general elections, and New Hampshire Democrats will get back to work focusing on the 2026 elections and addressing the significant challenges facing America’s overwhelmed working class. Today’s vote moves the party further away from that objective."
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DNC Chair Ken Martin reportedly faced an HR complaint after throwing his phone onto a junior aide’s desk. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Raju asked if Martin would "survive" as chairman. Dovere said that the DNC chair could only be kicked out of the position if he resigned.
"He cannot be kicked out, and so it's up to him," he added.
The DNC pointed Fox News Digital to a press release from June that highlighted the RBC's vote to strengthen penalties for states and candidates that buck the calendar.
The DNC voted at the end of June to strengthen penalties for states who participate in an unsanctioned contest in the early window of the presidential nominating calendar, according to a press release from late June.
The rules include implementing a $270,000 fine for any state that hosts an unsanctioned contest and increasing the delegates lost for states that host an unsanctioned contest from 50% to 100%, including all automatic delegates, among others. The penalties also prohibit any candidate participation in DNC debates if they violate the early window rules.
New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley said that the national party didn't learn anything from 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Martin, while speaking to reporters on Friday, was asked how the DNC would respond, should states such as New Hampshire go rogue.
"We have put in significant penalties and sanctions, probably the most enforcement mechanisms ever, to make sure that, you know, folks know we are serious about making sure the calendar we put forth is abided by. Not just by the parties themselves – the state parties – but by also by the candidates," Martin told reporters.
He added, "If there’s a consequence to the candidates, right, the candidates are going to have to decide whether or not they want to lose all their delegates in the first four states. Whether they want to lose access to the debate stage. I can’t imagine if one of those states moves into the early window and is not sanctioned, that presidential candidates are going to risk it, risk going there."
New Hampshire state law requires that the state hold its primary election at least 7 days before any other state holds a "similar" election.
When South Carolina was selected as the first primary state in 2024, New Hampshire defied the DNC and former President Joe Biden left his name off the ballot, though he still won the state as a write-in.
While the DNC threatened to withhold New Hampshire's delegates in an effort to get the state to comply, they were ultimately restored in April 2024, ending the feud between the DNC and New Hampshire's Democratic Party in the previous presidential election cycle, according to the AP.
Martin faced a formal human resources complaint after allegedly throwing his phone at a junior aide's desk at the party's Washington headquarters in early July, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The Times cited six people familiar with the incident, none of whom witnessed it firsthand. Their accounts differed over how forcefully Martin threw the phone, but the newspaper reported that it landed on the aide's desk while Martin was reprimanding the staffer and led to a formal HR complaint.
NOTUS also reported on DNC turmoil on Sunday, noting a source briefed on the episode described it as worsening conduct.
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"It's just f---ing unacceptable. This is spiraling behavior," the source told NOTUS.
The RNC blasted the national Democratic Party operation in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"The DNC is broke, leaderless, and imploding before America’s eyes. From states defying the national party to Ken Martin throwing his phone at staffers, it is undeniable that the inmates are running the asylum. While the Democrat Party collapses, Republicans are united, on offense, and focused on electing our candidates up and down the ballot this November," RNC National Press Secretary Natalie Baldassarre said in a statement.
Fox News' CJ Womack, Paul Steinhauser, Jessica Sonkin and Luke Travisan contributed to this report.
