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Announcing the 2028 Early Window States

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DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Proposes Early States for 2028 Democratic Presidential Nominating Calendar

Committee members highlighted the calendar’s ability to battle-test the field of candidates with a rigorous, fair, and efficient mix of early states. 

Today, at the July meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC), the RBC voted to select six states for the early window of the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating calendar: South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia. At the meeting, the RBC voted to issue the waivers to each of the six early window states, inviting them to hold nominating contests prior to Super Tuesday in the following order: 

  • South Carolina, January 22, 2028
  • Nevada, February 1, 2028
  • New Hampshire, February 8, 2028
  • New Mexico, February 15, 2028
  • Michigan, February 22, 2028
  • Virginia, February 29, 2028

RBC Co-Chairs Minyon Moore and James Roosevelt, Jr. released the following statement:

“The Rules and Bylaws Committee has proposed a rigorous, fair, and efficient calendar that will win Democrats back the White House in 2028. After months of hard work and deliberation, we are very proud of the calendar that the RBC has put forward — which is also the most diverse calendar Democrats have ever had for an open nominating contest. We look forward to presenting the proposal to our colleagues across the DNC for their approval in a few weeks.” 

DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: 

“I commend the RBC for their diligent work and commitment to a fair and transparent selection process. As a result of their hard work, today, Democrats took a critical step toward retaking the White House in 2028 by ensuring we have the strongest possible nominee.”

Additional Context on the Early Window Process:

  • During the meeting, RBC members debated the potential early window options and ultimately determined that the six states selected best fit the goals laid out by the committee: a rigorous, fair, and efficient calendar that will produce the strongest possible nominee to win back the White House. 
  • The RBC also chose to amend the Committee’s previously adopted resolution on the Principles and Procedures for Review of the 2028 Democratic Party Presidential Primary Calendar. The amended resolution allowed them to select a sixth state for the early window, instead of only 4 or 5. Members explained this change was a reflection of the numerous strong applications and their goal to create the best early window possible from their available options.
  • The RBC’s decision will now be put before the full DNC for a vote at the DNC’s summer meeting, August 13-15. 
  • The RBC’s decision comes after many months of careful planning and deliberation by the RBC, including:
  • The full meeting was livestreamed and can be found on the DNC’s YouTube page here.

Background on Selected States:

  • Battle-testing Our Candidates: The early window delivers on RBC’s goal of a battle-tested nominee both with key battleground states and tests with a comprehensive range of voters key to winning back the White House.
    • Key battleground states are prominently featured in the early window with both Nevada and Michigan.
    • Other early window states feature competitive downballot races and swing voter populations with New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Virginia. 
  • Comprehensive Test with Diverse Voters: The early window provides a comprehensive test with diverse groups of voters that are key to winning a general election. In fact, it is the most diverse open field early window in Democratic Party history, massively increasing diverse representation from 2020 early window states.
    • Black Voters: 4.6 million Black people live in the early window states, an increase of 2.8 million. 
    • Latino Voters: 4.2 million Latinos live in the early window states, an increase of 2.4 million.
    • AANHPI Voters: 1.4 million Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander Americans live in the early window states, an increase of 900k.
    • Native American Voters: 370k Native Americans live in the early window states, an increase of 280k.
    • Non-college Voters: 14 million Americans in the early window states do not have a college degree, an increase of 7.7 million.
    • Young Voters: More than 2.8 million young (18-24) people live in the early window states, an increase of more than 1.6 million.
    • Union Voters: More than 1.1 million union workers live in the early window states, an increase of more than 700k. 
    • Veterans/Military Voters: More than 2.1 million veteran and military voters live in the early window states, an increase of more than 1.2 million.
  • Keeping the Contest Open, Affordable: The early window is open and affordable for candidates — ensuring voters choose our 2028 nominee, not money.
    • The earliest portion of the window creates an open field, and does not box out any candidates based solely on warchest and name ID.
      • South Carolina has a very affordable media market, with estimated weekly ad cost that is among the lowest of any of the early states. 
      • The relatively inexpensive Reno media market serves the vast majority of Nevadans outside of the Las Vegas media market.
      • Both South Carolina and New Hampshire are geographically compact states, making travel more affordable and accessible.