DNC Reveals Frontrunners For Which State Will Host First 2028 Democratic Presidential Primary

• New Hampshire (Northeast)
• Michigan (Midwest)
• South Carolina (South)
• Nevada (West)

The DNC has selected its regional early-state picks for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary calendar:

• Northeast: New Hampshire
• Midwest: Michigan
• South: South Carolina
• West: Nevada

South Carolina and Nevada remain the top contenders to go first overall. https://t.co/b8XBcjM7bR pic.twitter.com/fLaERlX7D3

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) July 24, 2026

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The decision by the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will need to be approved by the full organization, which is scheduled to meet in August.

The overhaul reflects Democrats’ effort to give greater influence to states that better mirror the party’s diverse coalition, particularly Black and Latino voters, after years of a calendar led by Iowa and New Hampshire, two states with overwhelmingly white electorates.

“I think that it is good that we don’t take the order for granted, and just copy and paste it every cycle,” said New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive considered a potential 2028 candidate.

The decision will also shape the opening stage of what is expected to be a crowded Democratic presidential primary. Without an incumbent or clear frontrunner, the states that vote first could once again play an outsized role in determining which candidates gain momentum, attract donors and emerge as viable contenders.

Republicans still need to do their calendar. They’re expected to stick with their traditional early-state lineup led off by Iowa and New Hampshire.

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BREAKING: South Carolina is poised to hold the first Democratic presidential nominating contest in 2028, after the DNC's powerful rules committee moved to keep the state at the front of the line. https://t.co/JP6AyvZFei

— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 24, 2026

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The struggle between Nevada and South Carolina turned tense in recent weeks, particularly among some who framed the debate as one between two key pieces of the Democratic Party’s base. Latino voters make up a large portion of the Nevada electorate, and Black voters are the foundation of South Carolina’s Democratic electorate.

Key Democrats from both states leaned heavily on DNC members and sought to sway broader public opinion in the party.

“When South Carolina goes first… the Deep South goes first, Black voters go first,” South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain said this week during an interview with Roland Martin. “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.”

Nevada put on the hard sell too, with a host of lawmakers, Latino groups, and influential labor leaders mounting an aggressive lobbying effort. They highlighted the importance of winning over voters in a critical battleground state, as Democrats look to rebound from the 2024 election, when President Donald Trump won Nevada.

“Democrats keep losing working-class voters because we keep skipping the states where they actually live. To win Nevada, you have to earn Latino voters, Black voters, AANHPI voters, AND white working-class voters — all at once,” Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, the Democratic nominee for governor, wrote on the social media platform X this week.

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