The Democratic National Committee approved a six-state opening sequence for 2028 that begins in South Carolina and Nevada before moving through New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Democrats will begin their 2028 presidential nominating process in South Carolina, completing a major break from the party’s decades-long tradition of allowing Iowa and New Hampshire to open the race for the White House.
The Democratic National Committee voted Aug. 15 during its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, to approve six states for the opening stage of the 2028 presidential primary calendar.
South Carolina will hold the first Democratic primary on Jan. 22, 2028. Nevada will follow on Feb. 1, New Hampshire on Feb. 8, New Mexico on Feb. 15, Michigan on Feb. 22 and Virginia on Feb. 29.
The sequence is designed to expose presidential candidates early to voters from different regions, racial and ethnic groups and economic backgrounds while also placing several politically competitive states near the beginning of the nomination process.
“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 Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement after the vote.
Martin argued that presidential candidates need to demonstrate their ability to build support among substantially different constituencies before becoming the party’s nominee.
“You have to be battle-tested in a way that you already have campaigned in front of and for the support of various communities throughout the country,” Martin said.
The decision further diminishes Iowa’s historic role in Democratic presidential politics.
From 1972 through 2020, the Iowa Democratic caucuses occupied the first position on the party’s presidential nominating calendar. That tradition began unraveling after the 2020 caucuses, when problems with the reporting system delayed the release of results for days.
The party subsequently began reconsidering whether Iowa and New Hampshire should continue receiving privileged positions at the front of the process.
President Joe Biden accelerated that shift in 2022 when he proposed moving South Carolina to the front of the Democratic calendar for the 2024 nomination. The DNC later adopted the change.
South Carolina had already played a decisive role in several recent Democratic presidential campaigns even when Iowa and New Hampshire officially came first.
Barack Obama won overwhelmingly among the state’s large black Democratic electorate during the 2008 contest. Hillary Clinton received similar support there in 2016, and Biden’s commanding South Carolina victory in 2020 revived his campaign and helped propel him toward Super Tuesday and ultimately the Democratic nomination.
Black voters can account for more than half of South Carolina’s Democratic primary electorate, giving the state a considerably different demographic profile from Iowa or New Hampshire.
The addition of Nevada and New Mexico near the beginning of the 2028 calendar will also require candidates to compete for Latino support much earlier in the campaign.
According to the DNC, the six early states collectively include approximately 4.6 million black voters, 4.2 million Latino voters, 1.4 million Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters, and 370,000 Native American voters.
The committee described the lineup as the “most diverse open field early window” in Democratic Party history.
“It’s about more than a calendar. It’s a statement about the kind of Democratic Party we want to be — and the kind of country we believe America should be,” Martin said.
“Our party is at its strongest when it reflects the country we hope to lead. And our presidential nominees are at their strongest when they must earn support across the full breadth of America: every region, race, generation and economic circumstance.”
The DNC also said affordability factored into its selection of the six states.
Party officials argued that early contests should not create such high financial barriers that only heavily funded campaigns can compete effectively. South Carolina and Nevada have relatively inexpensive media markets, according to the committee, while the compact geography of South Carolina and New Hampshire can reduce travel expenses and make extensive in-person campaigning more practical.
The DNC said that structure would help ensure voters, rather than campaign spending alone, play a meaningful role in determining which candidates survive the opening stage of the race.
Not every state party welcomed the new arrangement.
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart argued during the Aug. 15 meeting that the first four contests should include a Midwestern state.
“I’m deeply concerned that our party has not learned from past mistakes,” Hart said.
Under the approved calendar, Michigan will be the first Midwestern state to vote, but its Feb. 22 primary will come fifth in the six-state opening sequence.
New Hampshire Democrats also objected to losing their state’s traditional position near the very beginning of the presidential process.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley called the change disappointing and defended the state’s longstanding role in evaluating presidential contenders through intensive retail campaigning.
“Time and again, New Hampshire has proven we are uniquely suited to battle-test candidates,” Buckley said. “Our small, purple state gives candidates a level playing field with the opportunity to meet voters face-to-face, answer tough questions, and earn support one conversation at a time.”
“We will continue making the case to ensure that Granite Staters have a meaningful voice in choosing the next Democratic nominee for president,” he said.
New Hampshire will nevertheless remain part of the early calendar, voting third on Feb. 8.
The full opening month will consequently move Democratic presidential candidates rapidly across several very different political environments. Candidates will begin with South Carolina’s heavily black Democratic electorate, turn to Nevada and its significant Latino population, compete in New Hampshire’s smaller and more traditional retail-politics environment, move to New Mexico, then finish the opening sequence in the battleground states of Michigan and Virginia.
The DNC said that combination is intended to test candidates both demographically and geographically before the nomination contest expands nationwide.
For Iowa, however, the Aug. 15 vote confirms that its half-century run at the front of the Democratic presidential calendar has ended. South Carolina will now take the lead in 2028, beginning a six-state February sprint that Democratic officials say better reflects the electorate the party hopes to assemble for the general election.
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