Should SC lead off or bat clean-up in the Dem primary order? What Clyburn thinks
When the Democratic National Committee decides its presidential nominating contest order, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Santee, said all he wants is for South Carolina to be in the early primary window.
Clyburn told reporters at his annual fish fry he’s not concerned about South Carolina being the lead off contest, after the Democratic Party kicked off its 2024 presidential nominating process with the Palmetto State.
“I never asked for anything more than keep us in the pre-primary window which covers a whole month before the primary starts,” Clyburn said. “So I think it’s important to the party for that to be the case. Whether it be one, two, three or four, I don’t care.”
Clyburn, South Carolina’s lone Democratic elected federal official, likened the primary order to a baseball batting lineup.
“The most important hitter on a baseball team, is clean up hitter. He comes in fourth place,” Clyburn said. “And South Carolina has always been fourth, and we demonstrated how important being in fourth place was.”
The Democratic National Committee is expected to reevaluate its presidential primary order after then-President Joe Biden said it should be looked at every four years. A decision on the 2028 order could come as soon as the end of 2026.
Before 2024, South Carolina was the First in the South Presidential Primary for both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Since the 1992 presidential race, the winner of the South Carolina Democratic nominating contest has historically gone on to be the nominee. The lone exceptions have been in 2004 when John Edwards won the primary, but ended up being the vice presidential running mate for John Kerry, and in 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden shortly before the national convention.
In 2020, Biden lost the first three nominating contests. But after receiving Clyburn’s endorsement ahead the Palmetto State primary, Biden won South Carolina and went on to the nomination and the White House.
New Hampshire has a state law that says it has to hold the first presidential primary in the country, but the Democratic Party opted to make South Carolina the first in its primary process at the wishes of Biden.
Clyburn made his comments while speaking to the media shortly before appearing at his annual fish fry, an event that has become a must attend for potential presidential candidates.
He was flanked by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
Although the weekend was formally meant to elect party leadership for the next two years, it also served as a pep rally to energize party faithful and activists.
“Back in the 2000 election, when they decided to show us a red and blue map, and they defined and divided the country, and it got into people’s heads and now they see a map and they say, oh, ‘South Carolina, that’s deep red.’ Well, I beg to differ, this room doesn’t look like it’s deep red,” Walz said at the Blue Palmetto Dinner.
Moore, seen as a potential 2028 candidate who insisted he wasn’t thinking about a presidential campaign in three years, gave passionate remarks Friday night that resembled a presidential campaign stump speech.
“This is the moment for us to say together in one voice, gone are the days when the Democrats are the party of no and slow. We must be the party of yes and now,” Moore said. “Gone are the days when we are the party of bureaucracy. Gone are the days when we are the party of multiyear studies on things that we already know. Gone are the days when we are the party of panels. Gone are the days when we are the party of college debate club rules. We must be the party of action, and that action must come now.”
But he insisted he wasn’t thinking about 2028.
“I’ve been very clear that first that no, I’m not running. But the thing I’m also very clear about is anyone who’s talking about 2028 is not taking 2025 very seriously,” Moore said.
This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 12:24 PM.
