The Democratic National Committee is jump-starting a fight over which states vote first in the 2028 presidential calendar, approving a process Monday expected to invite controversy after the party’s primary shake-up in 2024.
The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which sets the nominating schedule, approved new guidelines that give states until Jan. 16, 2026, to apply for consideration for one of the four or five pre-Super Tuesday voting slots in each region of the country. The committee will then conduct an initial evaluation and vote on which states are invited to present before the committee at a later date.
Democratic state parties are set to receive a request for proposals that they can submit to the committee if they want to apply for an early voting slot.
The process is meant to give states ample time to make their case to the national party apparatus and create an orderly process, but it will inevitably flare tensions after New Hampshire was dislodged from its first-in-the-nation status last cycle.
Members of the committee were adamant that the new process would help the DNC select states that reflect not only the changing demographics of the nation, but also claw back the White House from Republican control.
“I think that as we go through this process, the real question we face is asking each state why including them in the early window, pre-window, period helps us elect a Democratic president and win the elections,” said Stuart Appelbaum, a committee member. “That is [the] prime criteria that we will be looking at and making our decision.”
States will need to meet three criteria — rigorousness, fairness, and efficiency — that show each state has a diverse enough group of voters needed to win the election and that they are working to include them in the process. States will also need to touch on geographic diversity, media markets, and digital communication/social media plans and provide evidence of support from state parties, state election officials, and legislative leaders.
Since former Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss to President Donald Trump, Democrats have reflected on their platform and message, with some questioning whether a focus on identity over economic matters may have cost them the White House.
Leah Daughtry cautioned Democrats against moving away from affirming the key constituencies that have consistently supported the party during a passionate speech. “I don’t want us to affirm that we are stepping back in any way for the concern and the attention we pay to the core people who vote for us every single cycle, because it feels like erasure,” she said.
The party is also still reeling from the drama that booted New Hampshire and Iowa from their top spots in the nominating window.
Former President Joe 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. The Iowa caucuses were also dethroned from their early position after a disastrous performance in 2020.
Joanne Dowdell, a committee member, suggested “states need to show their ability to report the results of the election in a timely manner,” likely alluding to Iowa’s problems in the past. The committee ultimately added an amendment to the resolution asking states to describe their experience conducting a party-run caucus and primary, and how problems will be avoided in 2028.
In the last cycle, New Hampshire defied Biden and the DNC and set the state’s primary before South Carolina, forcing state Democrats to stage a successful write-in operation for Biden.
Raymond Buckley, New Hampshire’s state party chairman, claimed the Granite State should vote first, not because of a state law mandating it, but because it represents the base of the Democratic Party, in a more conciliatory memo sent out before the Monday meeting.
“Rather, New Hampshire will highlight that we should go first because we are unique in being a small, purple state with an exceptional track record of civic engagement,” Buckley wrote.
“We believe New Hampshire offers diversity in a number of key areas, but also that the early primary states should be considered as a whole – not just individually – in terms of providing strong racial and geographic diversity,” he also noted.
The DNC is still figuring out what severe penalties to impose on state parties that buck its early state process, which will get hammered out at the beginning of 2026.
“I think it’s important for folks to realize that there are three steps to this process. This is the criteria on which we’re going to consider these bids for the early state window. We still have to codify the call and rules,” said DNC chairman Ken Martin.
Elaine Kamarck, another committee member, alluded to the problem of state legislatures, particularly Republican-controlled legislatures, interfering in the presidential primary process. “I think that one of the things the states that are coming before us have to show is, well, can they get the legislature … can they get them to do this? Otherwise, it’s just a waste of time,” Kamarck said.
DNC continues to pay Harris campaign debt almost a year after she lost
Donna Brazile, a former interim DNC chairwoman, also pointed to the migration patterns of Americans as a key factor in which states may be considered for early voting status. December estimates from the Brennan Center for Justice show that southern states will gain nine seats in the next reapportionment of congressional districts, with Texas, Florida, and North Carolina leading the changes.
“What worries me now is that we’re set to see more demographic transformation across the country. The Sun Belt states are going to become more and more competitive,” Brazile said. “And so we might want to take a look at this so-called guideline that we have to have one from each region, four regions, when the greatest growth will occur over the next couple of years, including upwards until 2030, in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, and Nevada, and I just don’t want us to box ourselves in.”