COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA) — South Carolina Democratic voters could soon play a bigger role in selecting their party’s nominee for the White House.
National Democrats are poised to make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary in 2024. Last week, President Joe Biden had urged members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to make changes to the nominating calendar starting in 2024.
In his letter to the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, he said voters of color should have a voice in choosing the nominee much earlier in the process.
“It is time to stop taking these voters for granted, and time to give them a louder and earlier voice in the process,” President Biden wrote.
In 2020, President Biden’s primary win in South Carolina helped propel him to the nomination after loses in Iowa and New Hampshire earlier in the year.
Last Friday, the Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to bump South Carolina’s primary from ‘First in The South’ to first in the nation. Committee members from Iowa and New Hampshire voted against the change.
“Democrats in South Carolina are pleased with this,” said SC Democratic Party Member Carol Fowler. “I am thankful for the process we have gone through. I’m a little sad for my disappointed friends both on this committee and in state parties across the country.”
The change needs to be approved by the full DNC. That vote is expected to happen in early 2023.
If approved, South Carolina’s primary would be scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2024.
The Republican Party’s 2024 nominating calendar has been finalized and remains unchanged.
In a statement sent to WSPA, South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick said in part, “It doesn’t matter what Democrats do with their schedule. South Carolina is proudly First in the South for the Republican primary, and we’re more than satisfied that it will stay that way.”