Democrats Approve 2028 Primary Calendar Putting South Carolina First

AUSTIN, Texas — The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved its presidential nominating calendar for 2028, cementing South Carolina as the first state to vote and continuing the party’s shift away from the long tradition of opening the contest in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Members voted at the DNC’s summer meeting in Austin to adopt a schedule that begins with the South Carolina primary on Jan. 22, 2028, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1. New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia complete the early-state lineup during February, with all six voting before Super Tuesday.

Emphasis on a Diverse Coalition

“This is much bigger than a lineup of dates on a calendar,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said. “This is about our approach to winning back the presidency. It’s about the kind of Democratic Party and the kind of country we aspire to be.”

Party officials and strategists said the order is designed to give greater weight early in the process to Black and Latino voters, who form core parts of the Democratic coalition. For roughly half a century, Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary, in states with predominantly white electorates, held outsized influence over which candidates gained momentum.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, said in a television interview Sunday that the mix of states across the South, Midwest and Southwest would require candidates to compete in “big states, in small states, in all regions of the country.” He argued that the approach would produce a nominee with broad appeal.

Objections From Former Early States

Democratic leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire criticized the calendar as soon as the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee advanced it. New Hampshire has a state law requiring it to hold the nation’s first primary, setting up a potential conflict similar to the one that arose in the 2024 cycle, when the state held an unsanctioned primary.

Iowa, which held the first Democratic contest for decades, was left out of the early window entirely.

Background

The DNC first elevated South Carolina to the top of the calendar for the 2024 election at the urging of then-President Joe Biden, whose decisive win in the state’s 2020 primary revived his campaign. The 2028 schedule makes that change the starting point for an open race, with no incumbent president on the ballot.

Several Democrats are widely viewed as potential 2028 candidates, though few have formally declared. The calendar decision comes as the party seeks to rebuild after its 2024 losses and ahead of this November’s midterm elections, which will test its message on the economy and cost of living.

Republicans set their own nominating calendar separately, and the order of contests is also shaped by state legislatures, which set primary dates under state law.