MINNEAPOLIS, Minn — Locked out of power and without an obvious leader, Democrats are debating a possible pathway out of the political wilderness, and which states should be first on their road map.
At the Democratic National Committee meeting in Minneapolis, DNC members began 2028 presidential election planning to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2024, which bent the primary process to benefit then-President Joe Biden and shut down possible competition.
Members are bracing for a robust primary competition, plenty of Democratic debates, and a possible calendar shake-up to allow different states to go first.
“Let me say this for everybody to hear: The presidential calendar process starts today,” DNC Chairman Ken Martin said Tuesday evening in launching the 2028 election planning. He pledged “a rigorous, effective, fair calendar and process” for the possible wave of White House hopefuls.
“We need this process to give us the strongest possible candidate, a candidate that’s battle-tested to win and ready to lead America forward,” Martin added.
DNC PASSES NEUTRALITY CLAUSE AFTER DAVID HOGG PRIMARY DRAMA
James Roosevelt and Minyon Moore, co-chairs of the Rules and Bylaws Committee, announced they will also meet in September to discuss formalizing a process for states to submit applications and petition the party to go first.
Biden deprived New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary status during the 2024 presidential cycle by giving South Carolina, a state that helped him win the nomination in 2020, the first spot. He also knocked the Iowa caucuses out of their early position after a disastrous performance in 2020.
New Hampshire has a law requiring it to vote before any other state. It famously staged a write-in operation for Biden during the 2024 primary season. The 2028 season could see it return to the No. 1 slot, with Biden no longer there to boost South Carolina.
However, other battleground states, including Michigan and Nevada, hope to move up the calendar, given their importance in determining the next president. Former DNC chairman and South Carolina native Jaime Harrison has signaled he will fight to keep the Palmetto State in first position.
Stuart Appelbaum, a New York DNC member who sits on the Rules and Bylaws Committee and chairs the Labor Council, was coy about which states could go first but insisted he was willing to listen to any state’s arguments.
“I think that we have to take a careful look at the story we tell by which states go first,” he told the Washington Examiner. “What is it that we want to elevate in our decision-making? And I think there are questions about the demographics of different states. I know, for me, it’s important that we highlight states with a strong union presence.”
“And also, I think that it’s important for us as a party to highlight states where we make a difference in the general election outcome by putting them earlier in the election calendar,” he continued.
Democrats are also reportedly eyeing a mini-convention before the 2026 elections to help boost Democrats running for Congress and the 2028 presidential election.
The party faces the Herculean task of rebuilding its big-tent coalition after President Donald Trump’s victory last November and record-low approval numbers this year. The public has largely branded Democrats as ineffective and weak, prompting Martin to declare he was “sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight.”
Roxanne Brown, another member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee, said Democrats will need to work on educating voters about the effect that the Trump administration’s agenda will have on their lives.
“As a labor person, for us, fighting back is education and engagement,” said Brown, who is also vice chairwoman of the Labor Council. “People have to know what is happening. I think some people have experienced a lot of the crazy that is surrounding us right now, but a lot of people still don’t know what’s happened.”
“We’re focused on all of the cuts and what it means, but it hasn’t hit some people yet,” Brown continued. “And so, we need deep education to fight back and agitation to get people to push back once they learn that their lives have been forever changed by this administration that does not have their backs.”
Democrats have staged town halls nationwide to disparage the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s marquee tax law. Texas Democrats left the state to temporarily deny Republicans the quorum needed to redraw congressional maps in their favor. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) fought back by pushing his state to pass a new congressional map to counter Texas.
But Democrats also concede that their power is limited without winning elections. Texas Democrats eventually returned to the state, allowing the state GOP to pass a new congressional map. Newsom’s gamble still has to get the consent of voters during a special election this fall. Democrats don’t control the House or the Senate, preventing them from investigating the Trump administration or passing significant legislation that speaks to their priorities.
“The fight for me is we got to win elections, and we got to win them at the local level and at the state level,” said Celina Vasquez, a DNC member from Texas. “For the Latino community, for Tejanos, for my tias, my abuelitas, that is making sure that us and 10 of your family members go vote.”
Similarly, Vasquez pointed to educating Latino voters about the impact of slashing Pell grants or the potential loss to healthcare because of the “big, beautiful bill.”
“When Pell grant money gets reduced and not supported because the Republicans are ripping that opportunity for us to be a first-generation college student and college graduate, I mean, that’s the game changer for us,” she said.
The 2028 presidential election will also give Democrats a chance to shake up how the next standard-bearer is chosen after losing the White House and control of Congress in 2024. Party members are considering how the debates will be restructured.
“We have a lot of great folks who could be a standard-bearer, but I’m more interested in what’s our criteria for who we choose,” said Ron Harris, a DNC member from Minnesota who co-chairs the Resolutions Committee.
“No. 1: Were you on the trail hard and heavy in 2024 and 2022? I don’t want folks who are just now showing up because they think that they’re now inspired. I want to see folks who have been putting in the groundwork,” Harris said. “I want to see if folks have been investing in their state parties, investing in infrastructure, and have a track record of whether it’s building movements, energy, and excitement around their base.”
Several governors and former Democratic lawmakers with 2028 ambitions have made fighting Trump a part of their national persona, in addition to appearing in New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina.
DNC CHAIRMAN KEN MARTIN RETRACTS PRO-ISRAEL RESOLUTION AS DEMOCRATS’ GAZA TENSIONS SNAP
Newsom’s trolling of Trump on X has helped him raise millions of dollars. Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) warned Trump to “not come to Chicago,” as the president seeks to use the National Guard to crack down on city crime. “You are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker, a longtime Trump foe, said this week.
Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD), a rising star in the party, raised eyebrows after attending the 2025 Blue Palmetto Dinner, hosted by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and speaking at the NAACP’s 70th Annual Fight for Freedom Fund dinner in Michigan. Moore has also become entangled in a minor social media spat with Trump.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg excoriated Trump during an Iowa town hall hosted by the liberal group VoteVets Action Fund. He has also made an effort to appeal to male voters, some of whom feel abandoned by Democrats, by going on the Flagrant podcast hosted by Andrew Schulz.
Several DNC members who spoke to the Washington Examiner were not yet committed to any specific 2028 hopeful. “Any number of them,” said Evan Koch, a DNC member from Idaho. “The first one, of course, is the most prominent right now: Gavin Newsom. There are plenty of others, and I am not endorsing Gavin Newsom. But there are plenty of others, and they’re going to share their ideas and put them out there and try to gain enough support.”
With a host of potential candidates to choose from, Harris, the Minnesota member, said the 2028 primary process will need to include multiple debates to help narrow the field, similar to the repeated debates the DNC chair candidates participated in before Martin won the race.
“We need to set up a structure to maximize engagement and energy. If more people feel like they are contributing or a part of shaping the nominee, and then electing our nominee or participating in that process, is going to be better for us,” said Harris.
“If we keep saying we’re going to be a working-class party and talk to working-class people, our structure and our processes then have to reflect the fact that we want them to participate,” he added.