South Carolina 2028 primary gets first-in-line nod from DNC panel

South Carolina is on track to hold the first Democratic presidential nominating contest of 2028 after the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel moved to keep the state at the head of the calendar, NBC News reported.

The committee’s recommendation is expected to go before the full DNC at its summer meeting next month. If adopted, the plan would settle a months-long fight among states chasing the clout, cash and candidate attention that come with an early primary slot.

The decision puts South Carolina ahead of Nevada and New Hampshire, which NBC News reported would still be permitted to vote early. Michigan also received clearance for an early contest, and the committee could still add two more states to that window.

Iowa, once a fixture at the front of the Democratic presidential race, is likely to be left outside the early-voting period, according to NBC News.

Why will South Carolina vote first in the 2028 Democratic primary?

South Carolina’s place at the front reflects a Democratic push to give more weight to electorates with larger shares of Black voters. In the Democratic primary process, early states can shape which candidates survive, because weak showings often dry up money and support before the race goes national.

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain argued this week in an interview with Roland Martin that putting her state first means putting the Deep South and Black voters first. She said Black voters are the party’s “backbone” and should keep a prominent role in choosing the nominee.

Nevada’s supporters made their own case, pointing to its Latino voters, union strength and battleground status. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, the Democratic nominee for governor, wrote on X that Democrats lose working-class voters when they skip states where those voters live, adding that winning Nevada requires earning support from Latino, Black, AANHPI and white working-class voters together.

The South Carolina-versus-Nevada fight grew especially pointed because both states argued they represented core parts of the Democratic coalition. NBC News reported that officials, lawmakers, Latino groups and labor leaders pressed DNC members hard in recent weeks.

How did Democrats change the early primary calendar?

For decades, Iowa and New Hampshire led the presidential nominating process. That order came under heavier scrutiny after Iowa’s 2020 Democratic caucuses were marred by technology failures that delayed results, and after Democrats intensified calls for more racially diverse states to vote earlier.

Then-President Joe Biden pushed Democrats to reorder the calendar for 2024, placing South Carolina first after the state revived his 2020 campaign with a decisive win powered by strong support from Black voters. The DNC also approved Georgia and Michigan for early contests that cycle, though Georgia’s plan needed Republican lawmakers and did not happen.

New Hampshire resisted the party’s 2024 calendar and held a January Democratic primary anyway. NBC News reported the DNC first penalized the state, then later backed off, as the national party has done in past disputes over calendar violations.

For 2028, the DNC is also expected to approve tougher penalties for states that break the approved order. Those penalties would include removing all delegates, fining the state party $270,000, barring candidates from official party debates if they campaign in unauthorized contests, and making it more difficult for the party to erase penalties later.

A dozen states made pitches to the DNC rules committee in recent months, NBC News reported. Some, including North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, faced practical hurdles because Democrats would need Republican-controlled legislatures to move primary dates.

Republicans are not expected to make major changes to their own 2028 presidential nominating calendar, according to NBC News.

This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.