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South Carolina set first
The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted Friday to recommend South Carolina be the first state to hold a presidential nominating contest in 2028, with the decision still needing approval by the full DNC at its meeting in Austin, Texas next month.
“DNC panel recommends South Carolina hold the 1st presidential primary in 2028 The order still needs to be approved by the full Democratic National Committee”
ABC News reported that the committee also recommended greenlighting New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada to go in the early period of the primaries and caucuses, while NBC News said South Carolina is poised to hold the first Democratic presidential nominating contest in 2028 after the rules committee voted to keep the state at the front of the line.
NBC News said Nevada will hold the second and New Hampshire the third nominating contests, with New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia rounding out the first six contests prior to Super Tuesday, and it said the move officially pushes Iowa out of the early voting window altogether.
Fox News reported that the panel also voted to allow Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, Virginia, and New Mexico to hold primaries in the early voting window before the rest of the states hold nominating contests starting ahead of Super Tuesday, and it said South Carolina would hold its primary on Jan. 22, 2028.
The stakes are immediate for candidates because the order determines which voters get earliest opportunities to shape the race, with ABC News noting the calendar will test whether candidates can rebuild coalitions Democrats struggled to reach during the 2024 election.
Black voters vs Latino
South Carolina’s case for leading the calendar was framed around Black voters, with NBC News quoting South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain saying, “When South Carolina goes first … the Deep South goes first, Black voters go first,” and it added that “Black voters are the backbone of this party.”
Nevada’s push for the leadoff slot was presented as a bid to elevate a different coalition, with NBC News quoting Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford writing on X, “Democrats keep losing working-class voters because we keep skipping the states where they actually live.”
CBS News described the internal debate as whether the party should prioritize its most consistent voting bloc or its fastest-growing demographic group, and it said South Carolina advocates warned that removing its status as the first primary contest would be “a slap in the face” to the Democratic Party’s Black voter base.
KOMO reported that Nevada Democrats said the Silver State will still be the “first true test of a candidate's ability to win a general election,” and it quoted Daniele Monroe-Moreno saying Nevada is “the broad coalition of diverse voices—Latino, Black, AANHPI, and Native American as well as white working-class voters.”
The dispute also carried forward New Hampshire’s insistence on its own schedule, with NBC News noting New Hampshire state law requires officials to hold the nation’s first presidential primary regardless of what national parties decide to recognize, and ABC News adding that the 2028 order still needs full DNC approval at its meeting in Austin, Texas next month.
Calendar penalties and ratification
The recommended calendar is set to be finalized by the full DNC, with ABC News saying the 2028 order will still need to be approved at its meeting in Austin, Texas next month and with La Nación reporting that the recommendation still requires a vote by the party’s full body in August.
“South Carolina is poised to remain the first Democratic presidential primary state after securing a key panel’s recommendation, a move that will maintain Black voters’ prominent position on the calendar”
Fox News said the Rules and Bylaws Committee’s proposals will face a final vote by the DNC’s entire membership when the party holds its summer meeting next month in Austin, Texas, and it quoted DNC panel co-chair Minyon Moore saying that South Carolina “will emerge as the first contest.”
USA Today described the consequences for states that do not comply, quoting Ken Martin saying, “We're seeing an assault on Black power, Black representation and Black voters in this country,” while it also stated that under the rules, states that hold an early contest without authorization can lose all of their delegates and face a fine.
La Nación added that candidates who violate the rules can be barred from party debates and lose the right to obtain delegates during the initial period, and it said the proposed calendar includes six contests before Super Tuesday with South Carolina on January 22 and Super Tuesday on March 7.
The calendar’s design is also tied to prior conflicts, with ABC News noting debates about what states should go first and with MS NOW pointing to New Hampshire’s 106-year-old tradition and its statement that it will “follow its law and 106-year-old tradition of holding the First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary.”
