The Democratic Party took a small step toward setting its 2028 presidential primary calendar, telling a dozen state parties they can formally present bids to hold nominating contests at the beginning of the process.
Party leaders notified the 12 states during a party meeting in Puerto Rico on Saturday, with traditional early states such as South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire looking to stay at the front of the line while swing states including Georgia and North Carolina look to skip ahead.
Democrats will ultimately pick one state from each of the party’s four regions to hold an early nominating contest ahead of Super Tuesday, the March date that sets the stage for the rest of the primary campaign. The party may also choose a fifth state from any region to join that early window as well.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties are protective of those early slots on the presidential nominating calendar because of the outsize influence those states have on the process, helping to shape the strategies and narratives surrounding the all-important primary.
In the wake of a volatile 2020 primary calendar, a contentious battle over the 2024 schedule and a disappointing presidential election for Democrats, key party leaders, including national party Chair Ken Martin, have highlighted the importance of refreshing the nominating calendar.
Twelve states submitted applications for the party to consider earlier this month, and during Saturday’s meeting, the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws panel voted to advance all of those applications to its next round.
The states vying for the Eastern region’s early slot include New Hampshire, which has held one of the party’s earliest contests for decades, and Delaware, the home of former President Joe Biden.
The Midwest region’s candidates include two usual suspects: Iowa, which had long held the first nominating contest in the country until a bungled 2020 Democratic caucus cost the party clout and helped to jeopardize its standing as an early nominating state, and Michigan, which was granted the right to hold an early state primary in 2024, when the Democratic nomination wasn’t seriously contested. Illinois, the home of former President Barack Obama, also applied for the early window.
The Southern region is even more crowded. South Carolina, another historic early primary state, which has traditionally tested candidates’ mettle with Black voters, is applying again. But so is Georgia, which has become one of the most hotly contested battleground states in recent years, plus North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Rounding out the list, in the Western region, are the Democratic parties from Nevada, another historic early nominating state with a significant Latino population, and New Mexico, a new entrant.
The next step for these states is a formal presentation in front of the party, whose members will hash out the schedule in the coming months.
Looming over a handful of state party applications is the fact that some would need support from Republicans to legally change certain primary dates.