In a stunning act of defending “democracy,” the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules panel looked deep into its soul, consulted itself, and decided the first presidential primary of 2028 would be…South Carolina. This will maintain what CNN calls the “Black voters’ prominent position on the calendar.” The final vote on the issue will come next month.
Last Friday’s vote capped off months of aggressive organizing by Nevada, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa, all of which were seeking the coveted first-in-the-nation spot for 2028.
Progressives wanted Nevada but they lost. South Carolina will have its primary before the rest of the states on January 22, 2028. And then it’s Nevada (Feb 1), New Hampshire (Feb 8), New Mexico (Feb 15), Michigan (Feb 22) and Virginia (Feb 29). After that, the other states have their contests starting on March 7 with Super Tuesday.
The decision wasn’t unanimous. The DNC’s 49-member Rules and Bylaws Committee voted 26-19 to give South Carolina the coveted first-in-the-nation primary (Nevada got the 19 votes), with New Hampshire receiving four votes. The narrow margin highlighted the divide within the party, as progressives pushed for Nevada while establishment Democrats rallied behind SC. The full DNC is expected to vote on the recommendation in August.
NYT: South Carolina and Nevada have emerged as the two front-runners to begin the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating calendar, but their jockeying has grown acrimonious and pitted Black and Latino party leaders against each other, according to interviews with more than a…
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) July 22, 2026 [1]
🚨 NOW: Democrats are ERUPTING in FULL CIVIL WAR MODE as the DNC just infuriated leftists by selecting South Carolina as the first 2028 primary state for the party
SC is FAR less likely to go for a socialist than other primary voters, and socialists are FUMING, saying the DNC is… pic.twitter.com/2dXO54DqDF [2]
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 24, 2026 [3]
🚨💥 THE DNC JUST THREW AOC UNDER THE BUS!!! 💥🚨
Democrats didn’t just sideline her… they BERNIE’D her in cold blood.
South Carolina is now the FIRST primary.
That’s Kamala’s dream state.
AOC’s absolute nightmare.
Sources are calling it a BLOODBATH.
The machine protected their… pic.twitter.com/9ZbZ4yQjQk [4]— CONSTITUTION X 🇺🇸 (@ConstitustionX) July 25, 2026 [5]
This is a blow to the Hard-Left.
DSA types fought like hell to prevent South Carolina from being the First-In-The-Nation primary because they wanted to deny more mainstream black Democrats a prominent role in selecting the Democratic Party’s 2028 nominee. https://t.co/9QGi8BBoks [6]
— Jesse Arm (@Jesse_Leg) July 24, 2026 [7]
The winner – South Carolina – is the state that rescued Joe Biden’s campaign from being on life support in 2020. After horrible finishes in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada (where Bernie Sanders was prevailing), Biden’s White House hopes were fading fast until a decisive South Carolina victory, powered by overwhelming support from Black voters and a crucial endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn, completely changed the race. Within days, moderate rivals dropped out, endorsements poured in, and Biden went from political obituary to Democratic nominee.
The DNC’s message to its progressive wing after the Rules and Bylaws Committee vote on Friday, July 24, was clear: when the establishment and the party’s donor class have a preference, that’s the preference that wins. Progressives were left on the losing side with one of the winners being Kamala Harris, who will most likely get an early advantage if she decides to run for the presidency again.
Cue the progressive tweets about “corporate Democrats” and “ignoring the base,” followed by the usual round of strongly worded statements.
Traditionalists weren’t happy either.
Disappointed doesn’t even cover it.
The DNC’s decision to push Iowa out of the early primary calendar is a massive mistake.
Iowa and New Hampshire going first wasn’t about tradition for tradition’s sake. It was about giving lesser-known candidates a real shot in states where… pic.twitter.com/EKfb2zTQPJ [8]
— John Norwood (@NorwoodJohn) July 25, 2026 [9]
So after months of speeches about democracy, representation and supposedly listening to the grassroots, the DNC’s answer was to reward SC with the prize and tell everyone else to take a back seat.