Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin speaks during the Black Caucus meeting as part of the DNC Summer Meeting, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez)
AUSTIN, Texas — The Democratic National Committee on Saturday adopted a new early state calendar for the party’s 2028 presidential primary in a significant change that will have major implications for how Democrats pick their next White House nominee.
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South Carolina will kick off the Democratic primary for only the second time, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire. New Mexico will be the fourth to hold a primary, the first time the state has been among the first to vote.
Michigan and Virginia will round out the calendar as the fifth and sixth contests, respectively. Past primaries had included only four early contests.
DNC officials said the revamped early calendar better reflects the party’s diversity, giving Black and Latino voters a greater say in selecting the party’s leader.
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“Our 2028 nominee, whoever they are, will have to earn this across the whole breadth of America,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said before the vote.
“No shortcuts, no coronation. You want to lead this party? You gotta earn it,” he said.
The new calendar was adopted by an overwhelming voice vote, with only a few audible dissents among the hundreds of DNC members gathered.
The successful adoption of a new calendar is a victory for Martin, who has faced a deluge of criticism over his leadership but has recently signaled that he is open to changes at the DNC.
Democrats adjusted their early primary calendar for the 2024 election as well, giving South Carolina the first primary and adding Michigan to the lineup in the 4th position.
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The party’s last competitive presidential primary in 2020 operated with a dramatically different map, eventually ending with Joe Biden winning the nomination. That year’s primary calendar started in Iowa, followed by New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
Iowa, whose 2020 caucuses were deemed a catastrophic failure, has since been entirely removed from Democrats’ early state window. New Hampshire has been bumped back from second to third.
The DNC’s decision not to reinstall Iowa to the early window this year drew a sharp rebuke from Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart, who said the party is turning its back on a state that is on the verge of big Democratic victories in the upcoming November midterm election and overlooking an entire region of the country.
“The 2028 calendar has no representation of states with a majority or central or mountain time zones, and no midwest state is among the first 4,” Hart said before Saturday’s vote, speaking to the committee in dissent.
Iowa Democrats have threatened to go rogue if the state wasn’t included in the DNC’s early state lineup.
Saturday’s vote during the DNC’s general session was the culmination of a monthslong process to overhaul the party’s early state window. Its adoption was expected, after the influential Rules and Bylaws Committee recommended the list of early states last month.
The preliminary schedule has South Carolina voting on Jan. 22, 2028, Nevada voting Feb. 1, New Hampshire on Feb. 8, New Mexico on Feb. 15, Michigan and Feb. 22, and Virginia on Feb. 29.
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