The Democratic Party officially voted at its Aug. 15 meeting in Austin, Texas, to approve a 2028 presidential nomination early voting primary calendar, which ousts New Hampshire and Iowa from their historical top spots and leaves state officials to decide whether they will go rogue.
"The DNC has delivered a 2028 nominating calendar that truly represents our party and our values, and will help us retake the White House in 2028," Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic Party, said in a press release after the vote.
In a late July meeting, the Democratic Party’s powerful rules and bylaws committee drafted the now-approved calendar that scheduled South Carolina to hold the first Democratic presidential contest of 2028. Then the committee slotted Nevada
as the second primary state, freezing traditional first-in-the-nation New Hampshire out of the top two slots.
"We will continue making the case to ensure that Granite Staters have a meaningful voice in choosing the next Democratic nominee for president," New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said in a statement after the vote. He called the decision "disappointing" and defended New Hampshire as a "small, purple state" that " gives candidates a level playing field."
The decision to change the lineup came after a heated debate over whether South Carolina, with its heavy Black population, should have outsize sway in picking the nominee during what could be a combative open primary.
"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," Democratic political strategist and rules and bylaws committee member Maria Cardona said in a post following the committee's decision.
State political parties and officials often seek slots in the early presidential primary nominating calendar because it can give state voters a greater influence over the process. Early spots can also provide economic benefits, as candidates tend to devote more time and money to campaigning and garnering media attention in those states.
Four other states made it into the Democrats' planned early process. New Hampshire is still in the process, slated to hold the third primary. New Mexico – a newcomer to the Democrats' early calendar – was slotted at fourth, and the committee then expanded the early process from five states to six, ending with Michigan and Virginia. A longer list of states will host primaries on March 7, 2028, known as "Super Tuesday," when the greatest number of U.S. states host primaries.
Will New Hampshire and Iowa Dems go rogue?
State lawmakers ultimately set primary dates in their states, and while they usually model theirs after the proposed party calendars, lawmakers can ultimately, legally pick their own dates, but not without party-initiated penalties. In the wake of the July committee meeting, New Hampshire and Iowa Democratic officials lamented decisions to oust the Northeastern state from the top two spots and the Midwestern state from the entire early voting process for a second election cycle.
A New Hampshire state law explicitly exists to "protect the tradition of the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation presidential primary." For decades, Iowa hosted the nation's first nominating contest with their Iowa caucuses, while New Hampshire came next, holding the first state primary. In 2024, Democrats removed Iowa from its lead-off position – a changed backed by then-President Joe Biden – and New Hampshire and Nevada had their primaries scheduled on the same day.
"However, the wording – New Hampshire’s primary will go before any 'similar election' – leaves wiggle room for caucuses to go in front of New Hampshire. Iowa would establish itself as the lead-off caucus," politics writer Nick Field wrote in a September 2025 article for the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
In the initial wake of the July meeting, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart called the decision a “slap in the face” to Iowa and Midwesterners, and said the committee “lied” to Iowa when it promised an open process. She said that Iowa Democrats would "have more to say after November," when the 2026 primary season wraps up.
"I’m deeply concerned that our party has not learned from past mistakes. We need a Midwest and truly rural state to be among the first four states if we hope to build sustainable and lasting Democratic majorities that enact real and meaningful change," Hart said at the Aug. 15 meeting in Austin. A spokesperson from the Iowa party doubled down on Hart's July statement about figuring the situation out post-primaries in an email to USA TODAY after the official vote.
Hart went on to explain in Austin that "no matter what our calendar is like – the Republicans will hold their first in the nation caucus in Iowa in 2028," and said that 2028 is an especially important time to include Iowa, as the state will have at least three Democratic members of Congress and that "an opportunity to flip Chuck Grassley’s Senate seat in 2028 gives the other side a giant media bullhorn that we abdicate with this calendar." Grassley, 92, is up for reelection in 2028 and has served Iowa in Congress for more than 50 years.
In a scathing statement after the July meeting, New Hampshire Democratic leader Buckley said the vote showed that "many party insiders have learned nothing" from the 2024 election. "This committee’s vote does not change the realities governing New Hampshire’s primary, which are beyond the control of both this committee and our state party."
DNC Chair Martin said he hopes Iowa and New Hampshire will work with the Democratic Party, but he offered a stark warning if they do not.
"This is a calendar this party is going to actually protect," Martin said to reporters after the July committee meeting when asked what he would do if Iowa and New Hampshire skirt the calendar. "And unlike the past, we're not, it's not, going to be a wink and a nod, 'we'll let you do what you want, and you can get away with it.' If they decide to do that, they know what the consequences are. We've been very clear."
In June, the rules and bylaws committee approved stronger penalties for state parties that choose to violate the national party's calendar. The repercussions include a $270,000 fine and lowering representation at the 2028 Democratic National Convention from 50% to 100% – meaning that a violating state's Democratic Party would be completely unrepresented at the convention.
Now that the calendar is approved, Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats will have to decide whether they will abide by it or go rogue in setting their own preferred dates. Democrats in New Hampshire did not respond to requests for comment before publication about whether they will follow the calendar.
Contributing: Brianne Pfannenstiel, Des Moines Register
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats approve 2028 early voting plan, demoting NH and IA
