South Carolina moved to the brink of securing the lead-off spot in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary calendar on Friday, after the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to recommend the state go first.
The proposed lineup now heads to the full DNC, which is expected to vote on the calendar at its summer meeting next month in Austin, Texas.
Nevada had been the other leading contender, forcing committee members to weigh a central question for the party: whether to elevate one of Democrats’ most reliable voting blocs or give priority to one of the country’s fastest-growing demographic coalitions.
During its May presentation to the bylaws committee, South Carolina’s delegation made the case that the state should keep its first-primary status, pointing to the Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act and what it could mean for Black representation across the South. South Carolina also opened the Democratic presidential primary season in 2024.
Supporters of South Carolina’s position have warned that stripping the state of its place at the front of the calendar would amount to a “slap in the face” to Black voters, a core Democratic constituency.
“This decision is bigger than South Carolina. It’s about whether the Democratic Party will stand with the voters who have stood with the party through everything,” South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain said in May. “Will Democrats meet this moment by supporting the communities on the front lines of defending democracy, or will the Democratic Party tell their most faithful voters they no longer deserve to lead the primary process?”
Nevada’s backers countered that the state should cast the first votes because it more closely reflects the broad coalition Democrats must assemble to win nationally. They pointed to working-class voters, Latinos, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, men and low-propensity voters — groups where Democratic support has shown signs of weakening.
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Nevada Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno made a similar argument Friday as the committee debated the proposed order of the presidential primary calendar.
“Nonpartisan voter registration is the largest voter registration block in America now. Why? Because people are mad at both sides of the aisle,” Monroe-Moreno said.
And as Democrats consider their nomination calendar, she told the committee, “My state, the state of Nevada, is that coalition that we need to win back.”
