Ahead of the full DNC’s vote to officially approve the proposed slate of early states to lead the 2028 presidential nominating calendar, DNC Chair Ken Martin lauded the calendar’s many strengths, including its historic diversity and commitment to battle-testing candidates in order to produce the strongest possible nominee in 2028.
Elected officials, advocates, and Democrats across the country overwhelmingly praised the RBC’s proposed calendar, as it provides a comprehensive test for our candidates in key states and ensures a transparent, open process for selecting a nominee.
See highlights from Chair Martin, elected officials, and advocates below:
Substack: When our neighbors are under attack, we fight back.
[DNC Chair Ken Martin, 8/13/2026]
“At a time when Americans are asking questions about the future of our democracy, political parties should answer one of the most fundamental: whose voices matter?
“For Democrats, the answer is straightforward. Everyone’s.
“That’s why the Democratic National Committee selected South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia to lead off our next presidential nominating process. It’s about more than a calendar. It’s a statement about the kind of Democratic Party we want to be — and the kind of country we believe America should be.
“Our party is at its strongest when it reflects the country we hope to lead. And our presidential nominees are at their strongest when they must earn support across the full breadth of America: every region, race, generation and economic circumstance.
“The states we’ve chosen to kick off the 2028 process reflect that diversity.
“More than 4.6 million Black Americans call these six states home, a nearly 160% increase from the 2020 early window. More than 4.2 million Latinos call them home, along with nearly 1.4 million Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders and nearly 370,000 Native Americans.
“But the diversity and representation are about more than demographics.
“The six early states are also home to more than 14 million Americans without a college degree, 2.8 million young people, 1.1 million union workers, 2.1 million veterans and military family members, and 4.4 million Americans with disabilities.
“These numbers matter because the people behind them are our neighbors, friends, and family.
“They are nurses coming home from overnight shifts, parents trying to afford groceries and child care, veterans starting new chapters, union members fighting for fair pay, young Americans preparing to vote for president for the first time, and small-business owners wondering what next year will bring.
“Anyone who asks those Americans for their vote — and hopes to lead the Democratic Party and this country — will have to earn their trust.
“That means more than speeches and television ads. Candidates will need to organize, listen and explain how their policies will improve working peoples’ lives. And they’ll need a coalition broad enough, not only to win a Democratic primary, but to win the White House and govern a diverse nation.
“This is the test our presidential nominating process should provide. It also provides a sharp contrast to Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
“While we are opening our process and inviting more Americans to participate, Republicans are doing the opposite. Trump’s Republican Party has waged a relentless campaign to roll back the Voting Rights Act and strip away protections from Black and Brown voters. After the Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, Republican legislators raced to redraw electoral maps, especially across the South. More than a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus are at risk of being drawn out of their seats because of Trump’s racial gerrymandering scheme.
“In the face of this onslaught, Democrats had a choice: Accept a politics that diminishes our fellow citizens, or choose a different path — one that elevates diversity and fights efforts to silence these voices. Last month, I’m proud to say, we chose the latter.
“This choice says something bigger about this moment.
“The great challenge facing Democrats is not simply defeating Donald Trump or winning the next election. It is restoring Americans’ faith that democracy can still deliver for them — that government can make their lives better, that their participation matters and that our differences need not become divisions.
“Restoring trust in our democracy starts with our party’s actions.
“The DNC undertook a rigorous and public process and emerged with a stronger, more representative path to selecting our nominee. We should be proud of that accomplishment. But its significance will ultimately be measured by our candidates’ commitment to representing all Americans.
“They’ll need to compete for every vote and hear from Americans who too often believe politics has forgotten them. And they must demonstrate that the Democratic Party is capable of bringing together people whose lives may look different but whose hopes for their families and their country are remarkably similar.
“America has never been strengthened by asking fewer people to participate in its future. Our progress has always come from widening the circle.
“That is the Democratic tradition. It is the choice our party has made again with this historic calendar. And it is how we will build a coalition capable, not only of winning the White House, but of leading this country into its next chapter.”
What they’re saying about the proposed calendar:
- Associated Press: Democrats’ early 2028 primary calendar set to prioritize Black and Latino voters, organized labor [Mike Catalini and Bill Barrow, 8/15/2026]
- “Democrats’ process for picking a 2028 presidential nominee will likely kick off in states where candidates will need to appeal to key supporters such as Black and Latino voters and union members. […]
- “‘It shouldn’t surprise anyone as a result of it being the largest and most diverse committee that we got the most diverse calendar in our party’s history,’ DNC Chairman Ken Martin, who has championed the calendar, told a gathering of the party’s Black Caucus this week. […]
- “‘They have to show that they can go to the South and talk to Black voters and rural voters, as well as out west, talking ranching and mining issues, to a border state, to union members,’ said party strategist Karen Finney, who has worked on multiple winning and losing presidential campaigns. ‘Whoever survives will be battle tested.’
- “The slate covers three major organized labor buckets. Nevada has the service industry unions because of Las Vegas; Michigan has the auto industry and associated manufacturing support industries; Virginia is home to more federal workers than any other state. […]
- “Of the six states, all but South Carolina are competitive general election states. That means that even before Super Tuesday, Democrats — including the eventual nominee — will have spent significant time and resources in battlegrounds worth a combined 43 Electoral College votes. That’s not insignificant on the way to the 270 needed to win.”
- The Wall Street Journal: Democrats’ 2028 Presidential Calendar Elevates Black and Latino Voters [John McCormick and Ken Thomas, 7/24/2026]:
- “In picking South Carolina, which also held the first 2024 Democratic contest, the committee empowered that state’s large Black voter population. In choosing Nevada to go second and New Mexico to go fourth, it elevated Latino voter influence after President Trump made inroads with that traditionally Democratic-leaning demographic. […]
- “Michigan and Virginia were picked to hold the fifth and sixth primaries in the so-called early window of states. Michigan is a presidential battleground, like Nevada, and party leaders hope a robust primary presence in those states will pay dividends in the 2028 general election.
- “Donna Brazile, a longtime DNC leader and party strategist, advocated for the primaries to begin in the South, pointing to the Supreme Court’s ruling in April eroding the traditional protections of the Voting Rights Act for Black voters.
- “‘We must start our process where democracy must still be fought for, in the full view of the nation, where our coalitions can be tested,’ Brazile said.”
- Ron Brownstein, Bloomberg: “Overall, Democrats have produced a thoughtful calendar that accurately represents the party’s evolving coalition. They have elevated states that are large and small, urban and rural. There are states where campaigning is cheap and states where it is expensive. As a group, the states reflect all the party’s key constituencies, with big Latino populations in Nevada and New Mexico and a substantial union presence in Michigan and Nevada.”
- South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain, RBC Member: “The RBC deserves a big shoutout for creating this calendar because this calendar is the most diverse, the most rigorous and efficient calendar that our party has put out, ever.”
- Quentin James, The Collective PAC: “This is what it looks like when the Democratic Party listens to its base. […] The contrast could not be clearer. While Republicans work to silence Black voters after gutting the Voting Rights Act, Democrats just voted to put Black voters at the very front of the process of picking a president. That is more than symbolism. It means candidates will build their campaigns, their platforms, and their coalitions around our communities from day one.”
- Maria Cardona, RBC Member and Political Strategist: “The DNC’s new primary calendar uplifts black voters, Latino voters, AAPI voters, Native American voters, labor, military and veteran families, suburban voters, urban voters, rural voters, working class voters – ALL the voters that have been betrayed by Trump and Republicans! The 2028 Dem nominee will be battle-tested, and prepared to trounce the Republican nominee and win back the White House!”
- Chuck Rocha, Political Strategist: “I’m that voter that the Democrats are chasing. I never went to college. I grew up in a trailer house in east Texas. I worked in a factory on a farm more than I’ve been a political consultant. There’s a lot of me who live in South Carolina. Also a lot of me that live in Nevada. I love this choice of first and second.”
- Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen: “Nevada is a diverse, working-class state — and a critical battleground for 2028. Our state’s early position in the 2028 primary calendar will make Nevada a critical part of the process and help us nominate a Democrat who can win the voters we need to take back the White House.”
- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham: “For years, I’ve said the same thing: you cannot show up for Hispanic voters in November after Democrats have already picked a nominee. You have to engage with them from the start. Today, national Democrats agreed.”
- Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel: “The road to the White House runs through Michigan, and we are proud to be in the early window of the 2028 presidential primary calendar. Michigan is the most diverse battleground state in the nation, and a candidate who can win here can win nationwide.”
- Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger: “[Virginia has] robust election administration, extensive in-person early voting, same-day voter registration, and broad absentee voting access which will ensure that a presidential primary will be accessible, orderly, and reflective of sustained voter engagement.”
