Dems' 2028 primary schedule angers some progressives
Axios · LC · trust 52/100
Add Axios on Google Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks at a rally in Detroit last weekend. Photo: Sarah Rice / Getty Images
Some progressive Democrats are fuming that the party's new schedule for 2028 presidential primaries could make it harder for one of their own to win the party's nomination.
Why it matters: The panel's decision came with Democrats already divided over a wave of contentious 2026 primaries that have pitted an insurgent left against the party's more moderate establishment.
Zoom in: From Wisconsin to Michigan to Maine , top Democrats are trying to halt the left wing's momentum in the run-up to this year's midterms, favoring relatively centrist candidates they see as more electable.
But even some DNC members were angry with the decision to put South Carolina first.
The other side: South Carolina Democratic Party chair Christale Spain told Axios that a progressive candidate such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "absolutely" could win the state's primary.
Between the lines: The debate between progressives and traditional Democrats over South Carolina has at times been racially fraught partly because Sanders, who's white, twice fared poorly in a state where a sizable chunk of Democratic voters are Black.
Whether progressives can break through with Black voters on a national scale is perhaps the most important question facing them ahead of the 2028 presidential primary.
The intrigue: Some progressives believe the new calendar could work to their advantage — but not necessarily because they think they could win in South Carolina.
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