DNC gives final approval of 2028 primary calendar starting in South Carolina
The Hill · C · trust 59/100
Comments: by Julia Mueller - 08/15/26 2:35 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Julia Mueller - 08/15/26 2:35 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has voted to approve the 2028 presidential primary calendar , starting with South Carolina.
The party okayed a plan that has the Palmetto State kicking off the cycle on Jan. 22, 2028, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1.
New Hampshire, long a first-in-the-nation contest, will hold its primary third, on Feb. 8. New Mexico will vote on Feb. 15, Michigan will vote on Feb. 22 and Virginia will round out the month on Feb. 29.
The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee approved the plan late last month, and the full committee voted on Saturday during meetings in Austin, Texas, after a months-long process of states making pitches for early starts.
Democrats have been frustrated with the primary process since the 2020 Iowa caucuses, when a flawed vote-reporting app took days to declare a winner and sowed distrust among voters and party officials. The incident added fuel to skepticism about starting the calendar with a largely white, mostly rural state.
In 2024, then-President Biden backed the unprecedented move to make South Carolina the starting state in a push to promote diverse voices. Biden won an earlier primary in New Hampshire that year through a write-in campaign, but the contest was not officially sanctioned by the party.
Now, the DNC’s meetings come as some Democrats voice frustration with Chair Ken Martin ahead of the high-stakes midterm election.
For one, the party’s finances have come under scrutiny, after reporting that the DNC took out a line of credit last fall and put up its building as collateral for the loan.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) raised around $17 million in June and ended the month with more than $128 million in the bank, according to the latest federal campaign finance reports — while the DNC raised roughly $10 million and ended the period $2 million in debt.
Martin has disputed financial criticisms, arguing the party’s fundraising is strong.
But Democrats also remain divided over Martin’s decision to release a much-anticipated autopsy of the party’s 2024 losses, reversing course after previously asserting he wouldn’t do so.
And the New York Times also reported last month that Martin has been increasingly anxious about losing his job, allegedly throwing a phone at an aide’s desk in frustration.
Two influential union heads stepped down from their posts at the committee last June, and former Vice Chair David Hogg announced he would not run for his post again amid internal disagreements with party leadership.
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