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Two states that don't usually share top billing are suddenly at the center of the 2028 Democratic race. South Carolina and Nevada are locked in an increasingly sharp contest over which will open the party's next presidential primary calendar—a fight that's exposing tensions between Black and Latino leaders and raising questions about what kind of voters Democrats want to prioritize first, the New York Times reports. A 49-member Democratic National Committee rules panel meets this week to sketch out the early lineup, with a final vote expected next month.
South Carolina, which Joe Biden elevated to the No. 1 spot in 2024 after Black voters there rescued his 2020 bid and the Iowa caucuses were engulfed in chaos, is battling to keep that role. Biden argued that the state should go first because it is more racially diverse than Iowa and New Hampshire, the traditional first-in-the-nation states, PBS News reports. Nevada counters that its mix of Latino voters and organized labor make it the better proving ground for a nominee who can win in November. Nevada is also a true swing state—it voted for Biden in 2020 and President Trump in 2024—while the last two Democratic presidential candidates to win South Carolina were Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy.
Other states, including Virginia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Iowa, and New Mexico, are angling for early slots, too—fueling backroom lobbying, threats of penalties, and warnings that the process is drifting into a "Black versus brown" showdown, the Times reports. Rep. James Clyburn, long known as South Carolina's Democratic "kingmaker," recently said he could live with the state not being first in the calendar, as long as it remains first in the South. "I learned that the best batter on the team is the cleanup hitter. Fourth place," he said. "And so South Carolina will be OK continuing being the best batter on the team, the cleanup batter." (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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