South Carolina Will Likely Host First Democratic Primaries Of 2028

The first Democratic primaries in the next presidential election are likely to be held in South Carolina, the Democratic National Committee signed Friday, pushing Nevada and New Hampshire primaries to later in the season and giving southern Black voters the chance to shape the race from the outset.

The decision by the DNC's rules committee still needs to be approved by the full body later this summer but, on Friday, South Carolina was informally selected as the leader of the 2028 primary season for the Democrats.

South Carolina held the first Democratic presidential primary in 2024, as well, which marked the first time in decades Iowa and New Hampshire were snubbed in opening the party's nominating process.

Moving South Carolina to the front of the line is a result of the party's push to elevate the electorate of a more diverse state and will allow candidates to appeal to Black voters—which make up a large part of South Carolina's Democratic primary electorate—before competing elsewhere.

South Carolina was in tough competition with Nevada, a swing state where a large contingency of Latinos cast their vote, for the first primary, but committee members argued that Black Democrats are the party's most loyal voting bloc and ultimately chose the southern state.

In addition to South Carolina, the DNC rules committee chose Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, New Mexico and Virginia as the six states to host primaries before Super Tuesday. This is the first time New Mexico and Virginia have been added to the early window.

"When South Carolina goes first… the Deep South goes first, Black voters go first," South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain said earlier this week. "Black voters are the backbone of this party, and so we should continue to elevate Black voters' role in the process, not push it further back."

76.5%. That's the percentage of South Carolina's early voters in the 2024 Democratic primary who were Black. Roughly 25% of South Carolina residents are Black and, historically, Black voters have made up more than half of South Carolina Democratic primary voters.