South Carolina's Democratic Party is turning to social media influencers as it campaigns to remain the first state on the party's 2028 presidential primary calendar, a move that reflects both the shifting media landscape and intensifying competition among early state contenders.
Party leaders will host a "creator" briefing this week in Los Angeles alongside the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting, sources told Axios on Sunday.
The effort is part of a broader "nationwide creator engagement strategy" aimed at persuading DNC members that South Carolina — which led the Democrat primary lineup in 2024 after decades of Iowa and New Hampshire dominance — should retain the coveted opening slot.
"It's not business as usual anymore," state party chair Christale Spain told Axios, emphasizing that younger voters increasingly get information from online personalities.
The strategy will enlist influencers spanning sports, lifestyle, politics, and gaming, including creator-organizer David Echeverria, who said campaigns must understand "where people are, and gaming is the most popular recreational activity in the world."
South Carolina faces aggressive challenges from New Hampshire, Nevada, and potentially Iowa, all of which must submit formal bids to the DNC by mid-January.
The jockeying revives long-running tensions over racial representation, ideological identity, and general election relevance in the party's early-state map — debates sharpened by South Carolina's diverse electorate and its 2020 backing of Joe Biden, contrasted with the whiter, battleground profile of New Hampshire and Nevada's progressive leanings.
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