(The Hill) — A number of states are jockeying for prime spots in the Democratic presidential primary calendar as the party looks toward 2028.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) outlined the first steps toward considering which states should kick off the early state nominating contest during its summer meeting last month, with more meetings set for this fall and into early next year.
A reshuffling spurred on by former President Biden gave South Carolina the first-in-the-nation primary in 2024, but top DNC leaders say all options are on the table for the 2028 schedule.
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“The DNC is committed to running a fair, transparent, and rigorous process for the 2028 primary calendar,” spokesperson Abhi Rahman said in a statement. “All states will have an opportunity to participate.”
Chatter about the 2028 calendar has begun to rev up in recent months as states position themselves to go first in Democrats’ early nominating calendar for the presidential nomination. With Democrats out of the White House, the calendar for 2028 has become an open question — and one the DNC will have significant sway over.
During the DNC’s summer meeting, top Democrats outlined the first few steps that the influential Rules and Bylaws Committee would take toward considering the early presidential primary state lineup.
Committee co-chair Minyon Moore said it would come together this month to “discuss and adopt a resolution formalizing a process for states to submit applications to move in the … early window in 2028.”
A number of meetings are slated to take place between the fall and early spring, according to DNC Chair Ken Martin, who has said any state that wants to be part of the early window will be considered.
“The DNC is looking at all options for the 2028 presidential primary schedule,” said Jane Kleeb, DNC vice chair and president of the Association of State Democratic Executive Directors, in a statement to The Hill.
“We want to ensure that voters in both rural and urban communities have a say in who our nominee is and that the primary schedule prepares our nominee for the general election. We have strong states in our current calendar, and we look forward to the process and conversation in the coming months.”
Kleeb had told NBC News just days after the 2024 election that the calendar would “absolutely not” be the same in 2028.
As the process gets going, states are making the case for prime slots. Iowa and New Hampshire are looking to reclaim their positions on the early nominating calendar after Biden urged the DNC to reshuffle its calendar and have South Carolina go first in 2024 in a nod to the importance of Black voters and his victory in South Carolina during the 2020 cycle.
They are also two states that could be poised to deliver major headaches for the national party.
For one, Iowa Democrats are circulating a survey to get input on where their state should be in the early nominating process. They are also considering whether to comply with the early state lineup the DNC ultimately approves or essentially rebel.
“There’s a real appetite to go rogue,” one Iowa Democratic activist told The Hill.
New Hampshire, too, could roil Democrats’ nominating contest. State law requires the Granite State to hold the first primary, which is why Democrats there ultimately held the nation’s first primary in 2024 in violation of the DNC’s approved calendar. A repeat of that scenario is likely to play out again if New Hampshire gets dropped down the list.
“New Hampshire’s brand of retail politics is critical to battle testing the next Democratic nominee for President and has demonstrated time and again that candidates will get a fair shot,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said in a statement.
And after trying unsuccessfully to snag the slot ahead of the last presidential cycle, Nevada Democrats in a memo last week suggested putting the Silver State in the opening position, touting its diversity, battleground status and share of working-class voters, among other factors.
“If Democrats care about winning national elections again, elevating Nevada as the first presidential preference primary for the 2028 cycle will set our party up for success,” the memo reads. “Our state will provide a level playing field and the best proving ground for presidential candidates to show they can excite diverse, working-class voters.”
Upping racial diversity in the primary process was a key factor in shaping the Biden-backed 2024 calendar, which upended decades of tradition when it bumped the Palmetto State ahead of contests in New Hampshire and Iowa.
The 2024 calendar placed New Hampshire and Nevada going second at the same time, Georgia third and Michigan fourth, though Georgia Democrats were unable to move up their primary date in alignment with the DNC calendar and ultimately dropped off from the early window.
Jaime Harrison, former chair of the DNC and a South Carolina native, told The Hill he plans to be involved in trying to keep South Carolina as the starting state. Last year’s election saw Biden’s reelection bid effectively clear the primary field, but the next presidential contest is expected to be a wide-open game, as evidenced by the potential presidential contenders already stopping by early states like South Carolina.
“I do believe that South Carolina should get an opportunity in an open, competitive primary to be showcased as the first in the nation,” Harrison said.
Democrats in other states, like Georgia and Michigan, are also eyeing a bid to be included in the early lineup.
With meetings on the calendar expected to continue into the spring, it may be months before a clear picture of the potential lineup changes appears. The Rules and Bylaws Committee will then vote on any new calendar before it moves forward to the full DNC.
Harrison forecast that Martin and Democrats may want to pursue an “aggressive timeline” on the calendar, so voters have “a sense of what’s going to happen, where it’s going to happen” well before the 2028 campaigning heats up.
“It’s something that we try to do every four years at the DNC, to look at the previous primary cycle, to see what worked, what didn’t work, and to make adjustments so that the process can be even better,” Harrison said.
