DNC panel picks first 2028 primary state after battle over key voting blocs

By Fox News · Fox News

South Carolina is on course to remain the lead-off primary in the Democratic Party's 2028 presidential nominating calendar , after landing a key party committee's recommendation. The Democratic National Committee' s (DNC) powerful Rules and Bylaws panel, meeting in the nation's capital on Friday, picked South Carolina over Nevada to hold the party's first presidential nominating contest in 2028, a move that will likely maintain a key role in the primary calendar for Black voters, who are a crucial part of the Democrats' base. The vote comes after intense lobbying by both states, as well as by New Hampshire, and Iowa over the past year to hold the much-coveted lead-off Democratic primary in the race for the White House. And the battle between South Carolina and Nevada was seen as a struggle between rewarding Black voters, who have long been loyal Democratic voters, and outreach to Latino voters, with whom President Donald Trump and Republicans made major gains in the 2024 election, handing Democrats major setbacks. The panel also voted to allow Nevada, New Hampshire, Michigan, Virginia, and New Mexico to hold primaries in the early voting window, before the rest of the states hold nominating contests starting ahead of Super Tuesday. WHO'S UP AND WHO'S DOWN: CHECK OUT THE FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS ON THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS According to the panel, South Carolina would hold its primary on Jan. 22, 2028, with Nevada going second on Feb. 1, 2028, followed by New Hampshire on Feb. 8, 2028. New Mexico would hold the fourth contest, on Feb. 15, 2028, followed by Michigan on Feb. 22, 2028, and Virginia on Feb. 29, 2028. The Rules and Bylaws Committee's proposals on the calendar will face a final vote by the DNC's entire membership when the party holds its summer meeting next month in Austin, Texas. Minyon Moore, the panel's co-chair, said that South Carolina "will emerge as the first contest." South Carolina supporters pointed to the recent Supreme Court ruling that weakened th…