If there were ever a doubt South Carolina Democrats would hold a presidential primary in 2024, this settles it.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said he expects South Carolina will hold its inaugural first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Feb. 3 where the turnout will overwhelmingly deliver for President Joe Biden.
“Our new primary calendar, with South Carolina leading it off, elevates diverse voices, reflects our values, and will strengthen our party,” Harrison said in a statement to The Post and Courier.
“When voters in South Carolina head to the polls next year, I’m confident they will resoundingly vote for President Biden and Vice President Harris because they have delivered real results for them,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s most powerful Democrat and one of Biden’s strongest allies, is equally adamant the Palmetto State will be the leadoff host.
“If you’re going to have a primary season, I want him to run where he will win first,” Clyburn, D-Columbia, said of Biden. “Why would we allow New Hampshire to be first when he finished fifth in New Hampshire?” added Clyburn, a national co-chair on Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.
The insistence that South Carolina hold a presidential primary next year comes three months after Democrats retooled their 2024 nominating calendar at Biden’s request, an overhaul that upended decades of political tradition in an effort to amplify Black voters who have been the party’s most reliable constituency.
The plan removed Iowa’s caucus from the leadoff spot — a position it has held since 1972 — and bestowed the first-in-the-nation status to South Carolina, the state that resuscitated Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
At the time, it was unclear if South Carolina’s newfound political position would be purely symbolic, amounting to a premier spot on the 2024 calendar but nothing more.
In interviews with South Carolina Democrats from across the state, the consensus is overwhelming: They don’t just want a 2024 presidential primary here, they are openly hoping for one.
And it’s not just about Biden. South Carolina Democrats said the 2024 primary can be a dry run for 2028, from both a fundraising and political standpoint, should Biden win in ’24, complete a second term and leave the White House open, or a Republican wins next year and Democrats need to select a challenger.
The top four members of S.C. Democratic Party leadership all say a 2024 presidential primary would inject much-needed energy and money into a party that suffered brutal electoral losses in November.
Christale Spain, the newly elected state part chair, said in an interview the only way the party would cancel its 2024 primary is if Biden is the only candidate who files to run. The expectation, she said, is that there will be a presidential primary.
Quoting the Atlanta-based rapper Andre 3000, Spain said, “The South has something to say.”
“I’d love to see us host a primary. It’s historic for us. I wouldn’t be excited about canceling it,” Spain said.
But not everyone is convinced that a 2024 presidential primary would be a major financial or organizing boost. Former party chair Dick Harpootlian questioned the value of holding a potentially costly event for a predictable outcome.
“The question is, do we have one if it’s the president versus nobody, because it costs a tremendous amount of money to do that,” he said.
Two Democrats so far have announced challenging Biden for the 2024 presidential nomination: Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr., both widely viewed as long shots.
Pressed if he would want a primary with the current field, Harpootlian replied, “I wouldn’t have it.”
In years past, both Republicans and Democrats have opted against nominating contests when an incumbent president sought a second term. The S.C. Democratic Party declined to hold presidential primaries in 1996 (Bill Clinton) and 2012 (Barack Obama). The S.C. Republican Party did the same in 1984 (Ronald Reagan) and 2004 (George W. Bush).
But in 2020, when the S.C. Republican Party’s state executive committee voted to scrap its primary, a trio of longshot GOP presidential candidates hoping to challenge President Donald Trump cried foul. South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick cited the public cost of the primary as the top reason for scrapping it. At the time, holding a presidential preference primary would cost South Carolina taxpayers an estimated $1.2 million, according to S.C. Election Commission.
Now, it’s even more expensive.
The latest estimate from the commission puts a presidential preference primary in 2024 at $2 million because of additional costs required to satisfy a hypothetical two-week early voting period.
York County Democratic Party Chair John Kraljevich backs holding the vote as a party-growing strategy.
“We want to give Biden the opportunity to win, not just win by acclamation,” he said. “We want to give him the opportunity to burnish his credentials and face a live pitcher rather than just putting him on first base.”
Charleston County Democratic Party Chair Sam Skardon said Democrats need time to prepare for the harsh glare of the national spotlight. He views a 2024 primary as a necessary political “dress rehearsal” to cement the state’s “first in the nation” status.
“We’ve got a chance to show we can take care of business in 2024. We’re not Iowa, we can count. We’re not New Hampshire, where they elect candidates who can’t win nationally,” Skardon said.
In a sign that Democrats nationally are already taking South Carolina’s leadoff standing seriously, some potential 2028 presidential candidates are already calling around.
“I firmly believe we’re going to see some ’28 potentials here this fall,” said Colleen Condon, first vice chair of the S.C. Democratic Party, who declined to give names.
But Condon teased, “It’s with some of the names you expect to making arrangements on when they can come down. They want to be respectful of the president but they also certainly want to start getting their South Carolina time in now.”
Spain, the new party chair, confirmed other elected officials could be showing up in the state soon to “energize voters for President Biden.”
“And if that happens to be an opportunity for them to meet South Carolinians ahead of 2028, then we welcome their support in keeping South Carolina First in the Nation,” she said in a statement.