U.S. Democrats Have Approved the 2028 Primary Schedule
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has approved a new schedule for the 2028 presidential primaries. The decision was made on Saturday at a meeting in Austin, Texas. The South Carolina primary, scheduled for January 22, 2028, will once again be the first official stage in the party’s candidate selection process.
The second state on the calendar will be Nevada, where voting will take place on February 1. Next are New Hampshire on February 8, New Mexico on February 15, Michigan on February 22, and Virginia on February 29.
The new calendar solidifies a change that the national Democratic Party began implementing during the previous presidential cycle in 2024, when South Carolina was also placed at the beginning of the sequence. Supporters of the new order believe it will better reflect the demographic makeup of the U.S. and the Democratic Party’s key voter groups.
According to Al Jazeera English, approximately one-quarter of South Carolina’s population identifies as Black. In Nevada and New Mexico, a significant portion of the population is of Latino or Hispanic origin—31% and 49%, respectively.
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DNC Chair Ken Martin stated on social media platform X that the selected states reflect the diversity of the United States and should help the party identify the candidate who will be best prepared to retake the White House in 2028.
The change to the calendar had previously sparked controversy. In 2024, New Hampshire authorities held the state-organized primary before the first party vote in South Carolina, citing a state law granting such primaries the distinction of being the first in the nation. Objections were also raised in Iowa, where party caucuses have kicked off the presidential nomination season for decades.
Former DNC Chair Howard Dean believes the new order will make the candidate nomination process more representative. At the same time, the impact of the changes on the rivalry between the party’s progressive and moderate wings remains uncertain.
