Democrats select South Carolina for their first presidential nominating contest in 2028 election

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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.

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.

“I think that it is good that we don't take the order for granted, and just copy and paste it every cycle,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive considered a potential 2028 candidate, said before the selection was announced.

The decision will also shape the opening stage of what is expected to be a crowded Democratic presidential primary. Without an incumbent or clear frontrunner, 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 frontrunner — in almost two decades.