A Democratic National Committee panel voted on July 24, 2026, to recommend that South Carolina hold the first Democratic presidential primary of the 2028 election cycle, according to NPR.

The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee — the subgroup that sets the party's internal election rules — chose South Carolina over Nevada, New Hampshire, and Iowa. The committee published a press release titled "DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Proposes Early States for 2028 Democratic Presidential Nominating Calendar" on July 24, 2026, on democrats.org.

The recommended order is South Carolina on January 22, 2028, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire, then New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia. Only six states would be allowed to hold Democratic primaries before Super Tuesday on March 7, 2028. Super Tuesday is when a large group of states hold their primaries on the same day, often reshaping the race overnight.

The full DNC will take a final vote on the recommended calendar in August 2026.

South Carolina also led the Democratic primary calendar in 2024, the first cycle that did not begin with the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. The DNC published the early-window calendar at democrats.org/early-window.

The push to put South Carolina first was driven by a goal of giving Black voters an earlier voice in the nominating process. Black voters are a core Democratic voting bloc. Nearly one in four registered voters in South Carolina is Black, according to state voting data. According to AP Vote Cast, 83% of Black voters nationwide backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Joe Biden's first early-state victory in the 2020 Democratic nomination came in South Carolina.

Christale Spain is the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party.