Democrats' 2028 primary fight pits South Carolina against Nevada

The Democratic National Committee voted in 2025 to set the process for choosing the early-state window for the 2028 presidential nominating calendar, reviving a fight between South Carolina and Nevada. The states at the front of the line can drive momentum, media attention, fundraising and party legitimacy before most Democrats ever vote.

South Carolina Democrats are pressing to keep the top spot they won for 2024 after Joe Biden backed moving the state to the front in 2022. Their case rests on representation: they say South Carolina gives Black voters, Southern voters and rural voters a first chance to influence the nomination. In an Oct. 29, 2023 press release, the South Carolina Democratic Party called the primary historic because those constituencies would have their voices heard first in a presidential election.

Jaime Harrison has become one of the strongest public faces of that argument. The former Democratic National Committee chair, and the first African American elected chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, has defended moving the state to the front as the "best indicator" of the eventual nominee. For South Carolina Democrats, that pitch is not just about state pride. It is an argument that the party should test candidates in a place that reflects the coalition it says it wants to build.

Nevada Democrats have renewed their push to become the first presidential primary state in 2028 after Biden’s 2022 decision blocked their earlier bid to jump ahead. Their challenge reopens the party’s broader argument over whether the opening states should continue to reward South Carolina’s Black electorate and Southern identity or shift to a different mix of voters and political terrain.

The Rules and Bylaws Committee voted in 2025 to establish the next steps and issue a request for proposals to state parties for the pre-primary window, which is expected to include four or five states. South Carolina and Nevada are the leading contenders, with New Hampshire and Michigan also expected to seek early placement. Ken Martin has signaled that Democrats are not likely to simply rubber-stamp the old calendar, and a DNC member said he wanted the lineup settled by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The calendar decision could settle which voters get the first real say in 2028, and which candidate gains an early advantage before the rest of the party even enters the race.