Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin and DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee co-Chair Minyon Moore outlined the first steps regarding how the party would start considering the states that could go first in the party’s early presidential primary calendar in a meeting Tuesday.
“Let me say this for everybody to hear: The presidential calendar process starts today,” Martin told members of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee.
“We will be holding a series of meetings this year. We’re planning for meetings throughout the fall and winter and through the spring to make sure that we have a rigorous, effective, fair calendar and process,” Martin continued. “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.”
One of the most tangible steps would be taken next month, according to Moore. She said members of the Rules and Bylaws Committee would convene to “discuss and adopt a resolution formalizing a process for states to submit applications to move in the … early window in 2028.”
Democrats are bracing for another potentially chaotic early state nominating process for the party’s presidential primary calendar.
South Carolina was the first state in the Democratic contest in the last cycle, after then-President Biden pressed the party to have it take the pole position. This was intended to register the importance of Black voters in the Democratic primary; it was also a nod to South Carolina’s key role in securing Biden’s victory in the 2020 Democratic primary contest.
New Hampshire and Nevada essentially both held their contests at the same time in that cycle, while Iowa was pushed out of its first-state role.
Democrats in the early states are already jockeying to be among the first few early primary states in the Democratic presidential nominating process ahead of 2028.
Some Iowa Democrats have left the door open to going “rogue” — going first in the calendar even if they’re not selected to go first.
It’s also not clear how New Hampshire Democrats and the national party will reconcile with New Hampshire state law, which mandates that the Granite State hold the first primary.
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