South Carolina picked by DNC panel to hold Democrats’ first 2028 presidential primary

By Arit John, Ethan Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — 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.

Friday’s vote capped off months of aggressive organizing by Nevada, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa, all of which were seeking the coveted first-in-the-nation spot for 2028. The states’ party leaders and allies lobbied members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel as it considered which states it would allow to hold primaries before Super Tuesday.

The panel voted to allow South Carolina to hold its primary first on January 22, followed by Nevada on February 1, New Hampshire on February 8, New Mexico on February 15, Michigan on February 22 and Virginia on February 29, before the other states are allowed to hold contests starting with Super Tuesday on March 7.

The full DNC will consider the RBC’s proposed slate at its August meeting.

In recent days it became clear that the panel was split between giving Nevada and South Carolina first billing. Members of the rules committee debated which state to make first at a Thursday evening dinner that stretched past midnight.

In the end, South Carolina won with 26 votes, out of 49 total, after the committee’s co-chairs voted for the southern state. Nevada, a close second, received 19 votes, and New Hampshire won four.

At the center of the debate was a question over how to balance acknowledging Black voters, the party’s most loyal members, while also reaching out to Latino voters, a bloc that drifted away from Democrats in 2024.

South Carolina’s allies argued that the party should reaffirm its commitment to Black voters at a time when their electoral power has been weakened by redistricting and a Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act. Members of the panel invoked Black Americans’ long struggle for voting rights and the need to build political power in the South.

“The South is not the past, it is the future,” said South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain, a member of the RBC. “And if we are serious about changing this country, Democrats have to start winning in the South.”

Nevada allies pointed to the diversity of the state’s electorate, which includes substantial populations of Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Native American and White working-class voters. The state is also a general election battleground unlike South Carolina.

“There’s a lot of riding on the decisions we make here today,” said Daniele Monroe-Moreno, the chair of the Nevada Democratic Party and an RBC member. “I personally believe, and I guess I’m biased, that that coalition that our presidential candidate will need to build to win the White House back in 2028 starts in Nevada.”

In addition to questions about representation, some members raised concerns about Nevada’s vote-by-mail rules, which allows the state to count late ballots postmarked by Election Day. South Carolina allies argued they’re better equipped to declare a winner on election night.

“Candidates, particularly candidates in early states, want to get those vote totals, spin those vote totals to their own advantage, and take some momentum to the next state,” said Carol Fowler, an RBC member from South Carolina.

Nevada’s delegation, however, stressed that the state’s voting rules are a bonus.

“We should not be penalized as a state for making it easier for working people to vote,” said Artie Blanco, an RBC member from Nevada.

After the 2020 presidential election, Democrats voted to require states to apply for waivers to hold early primaries ahead of each cycle. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the DNC voted to make South Carolina first at the behest of then-President Joe Biden. This time around, Democrats considered 12 states that applied for early window spots.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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