DNC to finalize controversial 2028 primary calendar, elevating South Carolina
The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote on Saturday to approve the new order of states for the 2028 presidential nominating process as progressives and moderates grapple over the party's direction in the midterms.
In late July, the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to recommend that South Carolina be the first state to hold a presidential nominating contest in 2028, while recommending greenlighting New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada as well to go in the early period of the primaries and caucuses before the "Super Tuesday" batch of primaries on March 7, 2028.
The party is expected to give a final vote on Saturday, during its scheduled meeting, to finalize the 2028 calendar order, which would have South Carolina's primary on Jan. 22, Nevada on Feb. 1, New Hampshire on Feb. 8, New Mexico on Feb. 15, Michigan on Feb. 22 and Virginia on Feb. 29.
The proposed order puts South Carolina at the top of the list -- similar to how it was the first state in the party's official calendar in 2024, although New Hampshire still held primaries earlier in violation of the DNC’s calendar. Because of that, then-President Joe Biden stayed off the 2024 primary ballot in New Hampshire. It also moves up Nevada and Michigan's primaries and moves back New Hampshire's.
The change in the early nominating line-up also signals an effort by the party to be more reflective of the voting demographics in their coalition, specifically Black voters and Latino voters in states such as South Carolina, Nevada and New Mexico, respectively.
Some within the party have praised the elevation of South Carolina as a key overture to Black voters, a major constituency within the Democratic Party, amid mid-decade redistricting and administration actions that advocates say are furthering racial discrimination.
The new order also puts a focus on Latino voters, with Nevada going second in the line-up , after Democrats lost ground with the key demographic in the 2024 presidential election. Analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center found that while Biden won among Hispanic voters by 25 points in 2020, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris only won among them by 3 points in 2024.
The suggested line-up also features two battleground states -- Michigan and Nevada -- that are critical to deciding the next president.
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