WASHINGTON (AP) — South Carolina was selected Friday to once again lead off the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nominating schedule, most likely cementing a dramatic break from decades of tradition by keeping Iowa off the top of the calendar and elevating more racially diverse states.
The decision by the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will need to be approved by the full organization, which is scheduled to meet in August.
South Carolina or Nevada had been expected to go first, with each state aggressively campaigning for the coveted spot.
President Joe Biden successfully pushed to move South Carolina to the front of Democrats’ 2024 calendar after the state revived his struggling 2020 presidential campaign. South Carolina has long been the first Southern contest and has served as a key test of candidates’ support among Black voters.
Jaime Harrison, a former DNC chair in attendance Friday, told The Associated Press after the vote that keeping his home state first on Democrats’ nominating calendar signaled to Black voters the value they bring to the party, especially after a Supreme Court decision aimed at weakening their voting power.
“I think we needed a strong statement to say to the most loyal members of our party, which are Black voters, that we’re going to stand up with you,” said Harrison, who also chaired South Carolina's Democratic Party. “It was just really important for us to stand up and say, ’We see you, we hear you, but most importantly, we’re gonna fight like hell for you. And your voices are important.'”
Democratic leaders in a handful of southern states had lobbied for South Carolina to reprise its role as the party’s first-in-the-nation contest holder, arguing in a letter to the DNC that the state best represents the initial playing field for presidential candidates to build the coalitions needed to win and serves as “a moral and political compass for our party and our nation.”
The overhaul reflects Democrats’ effort to give greater influence to states that better mirror the party’s diverse coalition, particularly Black and Latino voters, after years of a calendar led by Iowa and New Hampshire, two states with overwhelmingly white electorates.
Much of Friday's debate stood as a contrast on several fronts. South Carolina proponents argued they had the experience to stand up a lead-off primary, and served as a showcase for the Black voters whose support has become vital for Democrats.
“Black voters didn't just show up for this party in 2020. They saved us,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said, in making her argument for South Carolina. "They saved our entire country from Donald Trump.”
Nevada's supporters, meanwhile, portrayed their state as the party's future, in which they argued Latino voters play a larger and larger role.
“We are the battleground state," said Artie Blanco of Nevada, a DNC vice chair. "We win elections because we leave no voter untouched.”
The decision will also shape the opening stage of what is expected to be a crowded Democratic presidential primary. Without an incumbent or clear front-runner, the states that vote first could once again play an outsized role in determining which candidates gain momentum, attract donors and emerge as viable contenders.
Republicans still need to do their calendar. They're expected to stick with their traditional early-state lineup led off by Iowa and New Hampshire.
The calendar decision is one of the first milestones in what's expected to be a tumultuous two-year sprint to the Democratic nomination.
There has not been a truly open Democratic presidential primary — without an incumbent president or a dominant front-runner — in almost two decades.
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C., and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
