Dem panel taps South Carolina to hold first 2028 presidential primary

South Carolina has been preliminarily tapped to hold the first Democratic presidential primary of 2028, as a key panel of party leaders picked the Palmetto State over Nevada on Friday after a contentious, racially fraught debate.

Why it matters: It's a coup for Black leaders who argued the party's most loyal voters — represented by South Carolina's large Black population — deserved to have the first chance to weigh in on who should be Democrats' next presidential nominee.

The vote by the Democratic National Committee's powerful Rules & Bylaws panel has to be ratified by the full DNC.

Driving the news: The debate exposed divisions across race, ideology and region, pitting Black Democrats against Latino Democrats, progressives against moderates, and Democrats from the South, Southwest and Northeast against one another.

Many Latino leaders pushed for Nevada to be the first state to vote, citing that state's large number of Latino and working-class voters — two other groups crucial to Democrats winning elections.

The first state to vote in the primary typically plays an outsized role in determining the presidential nominee — and is lavished with attention, media coverage and cash.

Zoom in: Members of the rules panel said Friday they elevated South Carolina because it's a diverse, small state where Democratic contenders can compete without having massive advertising budgets.

But until Friday morning, South Carolina was neck-and-neck with Nevada.

Democrats gathered privately late into the night Thursday to debate which state should lead off the primary. Sources on the rules panel told Axios it would be a close vote.

In the hours before the committee gathered publicly this week, South Carolina Democrats and their allies argued that Black voters would feel betrayed if the state weren't picked to vote first. The state led off the 2024 primary season after a push by then-President Biden.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, the African American civil rights leader, said publicly that "to turn around now and push South Carolina to the back of the line would be a slap in the face to the very voters who've kept this party alive."

Christale Spain, chair of South Carolina's Democratic Party, told The New York Times: "If Nevada gets elevated over South Carolina, it would be because of their Latino vote. So you would then be telling Black voters that you matter less than brown voters. And I refuse to believe that our party wants to send any type of message like that."

Zoom out: Former Vice President Kamala Harris could benefit from the decision to put South Carolina at the top of the calendar.

Harris, who's eyeing a third presidential run, is leading the potential 2028 Democratic field among Black voters.

What's next: Despite getting snubbed by the Democratic panel, New Hampshire — and perhaps Iowa — could go rogue and try to hold the party's contests.

New Hampshire state law says it must hold the first primary in the country, and some Iowa Democrats have threatened to run an unapproved caucus to maintain that state's status early in the calendar..

But Democrats recently put strict rules in place to punish state parties that cut in line. ...