According to numerous reports, twelve states have applied to hold their 2028 Democratic presidential primary before Super Tuesday.
Super Tuesday is the first Tuesday in March.
The DNC will choose one state from each region to hold its primary a month before Super Tuesday. ABC News reported:
The states that applied in each region, per the member, are:
- East region: Delaware and New Hampshire
- Midwest region: Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan
- South region: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia
- West: Nevada and New Mexico
Illinois? Really? It’s a solid blue state. Most Republican governors have been Democrat-lite because it’s the only way to win the state.
Did you notice two states missing? Texas and California, which apparently want to stay on Super Tuesday. But their Super Tuesday appearances are new, too.
“The purpose of the order is to tell a story,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union, who sits on the DNC panel, as reported by The New York Times. “The importance of the Democratic primary calendar is establishing a narrative of what the Democratic Party is about.”
Well, the order can also indicate which candidate has momentum, which is probably why the DNC wants to start from scratch.
The New York Times reported that the DNC’s criteria included rigorousness, fairness, and efficiency.
Ah, yes, diversity: “[T]he lineup of early states must be a comprehensive test of candidates with diverse groups of voters that are key to winning the general election.”
Iowa usually has been the first state, but the DNC upended that tradition in 2024, putting South Carolina first.
Iowa caved and changed its in-person caucus to mail-in voting, which began in January. It ended in early February.
New Hampshire, historically the second state of the process and the first primary (Iowa usually has a caucus), put its foot down, keeping its primary in January. However, the DNC punished the state by stripping it of the 33 delegates.
So if Iowa grabs the top spot, it will have to return to its usual caucus to avoid conflicting with New Hampshire’s law that it has the first primary.
The New York Times asked legitimate questions:
Should Democrats begin the primary race with a battleground state? Is a racially diverse state like Nevada — with its big Latino population — the way to go? Or is a smaller state like New Hampshire, with its long tradition of town hall events and passionate voters, best?Perhaps the party should return to South Carolina, whose base of Black voters is the heart of the party in a region where Democrats desperately need to improve? Or maybe Democrats should go back to Iowa, full of the types of rural voters whom the party has so thoroughly lost touch with?
The Tennessee Democratic Party argued: “Historically, states like Tennessee have often been overlooked and written off under a false assumption that ‘red states’ are assumed to be impossible to deliver progress … We ask for the opportunity to lift up and elevate Tennesseans’ voices, voices echoed across Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and other so-called ‘red states’ the old guard gave up on.”
Delaware downplayed its size and small Electoral College votes due to its location in the Northeast corridor: “Campaign activity, including media buys in the Philadelphia media market, will naturally reach voters in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, extending the impact of early engagement beyond state lines.”
Nevada wants the coveted title of first in the nation, arguing it has everything from being a battleground state to diversity in Las Vegas and rural enclaves.
But then there’s Iowa. The Republicans will hold their first 2028 presidential primary in Iowa.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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