Party officials set South Carolina first on Jan. 22, 2028, followed by Nevada (Feb. 1), New Hampshire (Feb. 8), New Mexico (Feb. 15), Michigan (Feb. 22) and Virginia on (Feb. 29).
The new calendar represents a sea change from past competitive primaries. For decades, Iowa and New Hampshire, two states with largely white populations, had started the process. Now, two southern states and two Western states will be among the earliest contests, which is likely to expand the influence of Black and Latino voters. “Six states, different regions, different communities, different experiences but together as one our road map to the White House,” Ken Martin, the DNC party chairman, said in a speech to the party on Saturday.
The earliest states will play an outsize role in winnowing what is expected to be an expansive field of candidates. The order was officially set by a vote of the D.N.C. membership at a meeting in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.
Black voters generally have been a moderating force in Democratic politics, so the early position of South Carolina could lead the state to have a similar effect. In the past, South Carolina played the pivotal role of anointing the candidate with the most momentum headed into Super Tuesday. Now Michigan and Virginia — which are bigger and more expensive to campaign in — are set to hold that power.
I will be interested in seeing how New Hampshire responds to this since they made a state law stating their primary has to come first. I do enjoy Ken Martin preemptively warning them not to fuck around because it was a DNC choice and not a state choice. Follow the votes on calendar or get fined and underrepresented at the convention.
This them trying to keep DSA candidates out right?
Exactly, because it’s otherwise a useless state for the Dems in the presidential race since it will never be a blue state. That’s also the point of moving Michigan and Virginia, make the candidates spend a boatload of money to survive Super Tuesday. Since they don’t expect the DSA candidates to have superPac money to help them.
