By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) – The Democratic National Committee on Saturday officially selected South Carolina as the first state to vote in the party’s 2028 primaries.
The vote at the DNC’s summer meeting in Austin, Texas, codified a July vote by the organization’s Rules & Bylaws Committee. Following South Carolina will be Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia, the DNC said in a news release.
The first state to vote in a presidential nominating contest often helps to shape the field of candidates, drawing campaign spending and media attention.
The calendar adopted on Saturday will allow Democrats “to battle-test candidates while maintaining an open, affordable field,” the committee said.
“The DNC has delivered a 2028 nominating calendar that truly represents our party and our values, and will help us retake the White House in 2028,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.
Some Democrats often mentioned as potential presidential contenders have visited South Carolina over the past several months, including Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
South Carolina and Nevada had tussled in July over which state should claim the top spot in a competition that became a proxy battle between the party’s Black and Latino bases.
In 2022, former President Joe Biden persuaded Democrats to overhaul their 2024 nominating calendar to put South Carolina first. New Hampshire, which traditionally had been the first state to vote in the primaries, defied the national party that year and stuck to its usual January spot on the calendar, although the DNC did not seat any of the New Hampshire delegates elected in that gathering.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Sergio Non and Matthew Lewis)
By Leah Douglas | Reuters | © Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026.
