COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It’s been less than a year since the last presidential election. Democratic National Committee The party is starting to lay out the framework for the next presidential primary, which could flip the early voting calendar once again.
The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee on Monday approved a plan to give states until Jan. 16 to submit applications to hold voting contests ahead of Super Tuesday, when large delegates are awarded.
While delegate mass isn’t necessarily an issue in early voting contests, delegate weight has traditionally played a crucial role for candidates seeking to lead the party, and frequent rotations signify the high profile of the states involved.
“We are committed to a fair and transparent process to deliver a veteran candidate who will restore the White House to the Democratic Party,” committee co-chairs Mignon Moore and James Roosevelt Jr. said in a joint statement.
It will be months, maybe even years, before the 2028 calendar is finalized. In June, several members of new DNC Chairman Ken Martin’s leadership team said the party was considering scrambling the voting order for the next election cycle. It also happened in 2024. That’s when, at President Joe Biden’s behest, South Carolina hosted the Democratic Party’s first national campaign, helping the incumbent president win a landslide victory in the state and revive a campaign that faltered four years ago.
The move was also a nod to the party’s loyal black voter base, while adding Georgia and Michigan to the so-called early slots.
At some level, Next presidential primary It’s already begun, at least unofficially. Six presidential candidates have already begun early pilgrimages to states that topped the calendar last time, including South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa.
Democratic Party officials gathered in Martin’s home state of Minnesota. summer conference There were some private conversations earlier this year about whether South Carolina, a reliably Republican state, should be replaced with another southern state considered a swing state in the general election. If there is a change, North Carolina and Georgia appear to be early favorites.
Martin himself said South Carolina could lose its No. 1 spot. But he expressed confidence that states with large black populations, although not South Carolina, will figure prominently in the upcoming Democratic nominating process.
“Clearly, the Democratic Party’s most reliable voters are Black voters, and they will play an important role in selecting our candidates,” Martin said at the time. “And make sure that whether it’s South Carolina or other states, making sure that you have a mix of African American voters and states that actually contest your candidates is very important to making sure that we win in November.”
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, one of the few veterans to retain a seat on the Rules and Bylaws Committee, has previously noted that New Hampshire is obligated by state law to hold the nation’s first presidential primary regardless of the DNC’s wishes.
Of course, New Hampshire objected to the DNC’s 2024 calendar. and the state of iowa threatened to go wild 2028 is also skipped.
In a release after Monday’s vote, Nevada Democratic Party Executive Director Hilary Barrett called Nevada “the only state to meet all of the DNC’s new early state standards with unparalleled rigor, efficiency and fairness,” and said the state should lead the way.
