After a two-day process in Washington, members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee selected South Carolina as the first state to vote in the 2028 presidential primary process during a preliminary vote on Friday.
The vote is the first procedural hurdle the state needed to clear to lead off the Democratic nominating calendar in 2028.
The committee spent Friday deciding the order of the five other states that will round out the early nominating schedule before Super Tuesday, when several states hold their primaries simultaneously.
South Carolina’s primary is expected to be held Jan. 22, 2028, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1, New Hampshire on Feb. 8, New Mexico on Feb. 15, Michigan on Feb. 22, and Virginia on Feb. 29. Super Tuesday is scheduled for March 7, 2028.
The full DNC membership will finalize the order at its next meeting in Austin, Texas, in August.
The 49-member panel selected the schedule after a 10-month process that included eight public meetings and presentations from 12 states that made their case for an early voting slot. Those 12 states were from all four geographic regions in the United States: Delaware, New Hampshire, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Nevada, and New Mexico.
“It was critical, as we said, that every state who wanted to be a part of this process had an opportunity to be heard,” said DNC chairman Ken Martin on Thursday about the process. “And I think we’re better off for not only listening but truly, actually engaging each of them in conversation and making sure that we heard them out.”
South Carolina is on track to vote first in the 2028 Democratic primary after winning 26 of the 49 votes to beat out Nevada, Michigan, South Carolina, and New Hampshire.
Concerns about Nevada’s voting process dominated the discussion before the panel voted. DNC member Stuart Appelbaum told the panel, “When I have to choose between Nevada and South Carolina, what concerns me is that votes in Nevada can still be counted five days after the primary has been held.”
Christale Spain, chairwoman of South Carolina’s Democratic Party, reminded the panel that South Carolina has two weeks of early voting and typically votes on a Saturday. “We don’t ever have issues with our primary,” Spain said. “We deliver results on Election Day.”
Artie Blanco, a Nevada DNC member and DNC vice chairwoman, defended her state’s laws in remarks to the panel: “Our election laws are designed to make it possible for all working people to have access to ballots.”
“We should not be penalized as a state for making it easier for working people to vote, shift workers to vote,” Blanco said.
An amendment adding a sixth state to the lineup was nominated by DNC member Michael Kapp, who said that having six early voting states “eliminates demographic gaps” and “protects grassroots candidates” who could build momentum “before [campaign] costs skyrocket on Super Tuesday.”
The amendment was unanimously agreed upon, with New Mexico and Virginia rounding out the lineup.
New Hampshire was once again stripped of its first-in-the-nation status after former President Joe Biden elevated South Carolina in 2024.
In a statement, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley implied New Hampshire may still be likely to hold its primary first due to state law requiring it to vote first in the presidential primary.
“Today’s vote shows that many party insiders have learned nothing from 2024,” said Buckley. “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.”
South Carolina prevailed over Nevada after a tumultuous battle between the two states over African American and Latino voters.
DNC members pointed to black voters, who make up the backbone of the Democratic Party, as one reason why South Carolina should vote first.
“You start in South Carolina because black voters didn’t just show up at this party in 2020; they saved us,” said Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman and Association of State Democratic Committees President Jane Kleeb. “They saved our entire country from Donald Trump. They didn’t just do it in 2020. They’ve done it over and over and over again.”
Nevada State Party Chairwoman Daniele Monroe Moreno, a black woman, urged the party not to pit voters of color against each other, noting that her family is also mixed race.
“We are the Democratic family. We are black. We are brown, and we are everything in between,” Monroe Moreno said. “We can’t forget our working class men and women, and most of those are white men and women that we have left behind.”
AMID INFIGHTING, DNC CHAIRMAN KEN MARTIN URGES SWIFT DECISION ON PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CALENDAR
Democrats are attempting to win the black and Latino voters who defected to President Donald Trump during the 2024 election. But the exact strategy on how to woo back voters under their big tent coalition has divided Democrats. The party is also dealing with an insurgent socialist wing, many of whom are people of color, who have defeated incumbent lawmakers in primaries.
“We have to bring this family back together,” Monroe Moreno urged.
