DNC Committee Votes to Make South Carolina First Presidential Primary State for 2028

Kathianne BonielloJul 24th, 2026, 2:35 pm
 

Clyburn

South Carolina will once again be the first state to host a Democratic presidential primary after winning a DNC committee vote on the issue by a wide margin.

The state earned 26 votes in the Friday decision by the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, video posted to C-SPAN showed, while Nevada earned 19 and New Hampshire four votes.

“As we stated earlier the majority vote count was to be 25 and it appears South Carolina has 26 so the will emerge as the first contest in a body of work that will have a plethora of good contests for these candidates to really vie for,” Minyon Moore, co-chair of the Rules and Bylaws Committee, said.

The selection of South Carolina, which will be considered by the full DNC next month, was bolstered by the Supreme Court’s recent decisions weakening the Voting Rights Act, NBC News reported.

The Supreme Court decision was widely criticized as weakening the political power of Black communities in the South.

South Carolina became the first Democratic presidential primary contest to be held in 2024 after then President Joe Biden pushed for the move, a decision supported by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC).

The Friday vote was preceded by weeks of campaigning by representatives from South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Iowa, who lobbied party leaders for the chance to be first in the nation for the 2028 primary battle, CNN said.

The DNC’s Rules Committee also agreed to let three other states — Nevada, Michigan and New Hampshire — hold early primaries and may add two more, the network said.

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