DemDaily: Download on the DNC Summer Meeting
August 19, 2026
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) held its Summer meeting last week in Austin, Texas -- the last before the 2026 midterms, less than three months away.
Four days of state party, standing committee, trainings, caucus, council and strategic planning meetings culminated in Saturday's General Session. Over the three-hour meeting, officers and 452 members representing each state, DC, the territories, and Democrats Abroad met to vote on official party business.
Chief among those were the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee's (RBC) proposed slate of early window primary states that will kick off the 2028 presidential nominating calendar.
The meeting took place against a backdrop of a media frenzy around the party's fundraising deficit, leadership tensions, and a socialist uprising that has created additional fissures among internal ideological factions regarding the direction of the party.
| See: DemDaily: Your Guide to The Democratic National Committee 8/11/26 |
Insurgent voices, however, who publicly called for the ouster of Chairman Ken Martin leading up to the meeting, were noticeably absent as it became apparent that a large majority of the members had his back.
In an open Q&A before the state committees, Martin defended the Committee's fundraising record, asserting that the current leadership has raised more money than any DNC in history without holding the White House.
“It’s slow...There is still the hangover from 2024 for big donors,” former DNC Chair and Martin ally Jaime Harrison told The Washington Post.
Martin also defended his spending strategy, having made unprecedented Investments in the states and building infrastructure that has paid off. The bottom line, he said, is "we are winning." 2025 was an historic off-year election for Democrats, who won or over-performed in 90%of legislative and special elections nationwide.
"The momentum coming off of last year's blue wave," said one DNC member, "is undeniable." He pointed to the latest Economist/YouGov poll numbers on the Generic Congressional Ballot, which showed 46% of registered voters would vote for a Democratic congressional candidate at present, compared to 39% for a Republican.
An August 14-17 Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that, for the first time in nearly a decade of its polling series, voters perceive the Democratic Party as having a better plan for the economy than the Republican Party.
Debated
Ideological divisions were evident in the debate over some 30 issue positions passed by the Resolutions Committee, most prominently on the subject of immigration enforcement -- and whether to "abolish" (progressives) or "reform" (moderates) the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In an unusual move to preserve party unity, the Committee packaged both measures together, passing them as non-binding resolutions.
On the subject of Gaza, which was passionately debated by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel factions at Friday's Interfaith Council meeting, leadership ultimately deferred on taking an official policy stand until the formal report of the Middle East Working Group is delivered at the Winter meeting.
Resolutions are symbolic. The official binding party platform will not be set until the 2028 Democratic National Convention.
Among the most anticipated, if not misunderstood, debates centered on the Delegate Selection Rules and language recommended by the RBC, which was perceived as a ban on ranked-choice voting in the 2028 presidential Democratic primary.
The language stated that “No ballot used for purposes of allocation of delegates among presidential preference shall permit voters to express more than one presidential preference.” It specifies that in states and territories where local law requires the use of RCV -- like DC, Alaska, and Maine -- “only the first round will be considered for delegate allocation purposes.”
The backlash was significant from RCV advocates who argued the change would confuse voters and amounted to the national party overriding state election processes. The fight also became something of a proxy battle between the party establishment and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which favors RCV.
Ultimately, the RBC dropped the restrictive language, and RCV remains usable in the 2028 presidential primary process where it is law.
The Early Window
Under DNC rules, no state can hold a presidential primary or caucus before the first Tuesday in March, known as "Super Tuesday," when 16 states hold presidential primaries and caucuses. Four states, however, have traditionally been granted “waivers” to kick off the pre-primary window as representatives of each region of the country.
| See DemDaily: 2028 Presidential: The Early Line Up of Primary States 7/28/26 |
On Saturday, members passed by voice vote the RBC's proposed slate of early presidential primary states and approved the 2028 Delegate Selection Rules and the Call for the 2028 Convention.
The states, expanded to six for the first time, are led by South Carolina on January 22, followed by Nevada (February 1), New Hampshire (February 8), New Mexico (February 15), Michigan (February 22) and Virginia (February 29).
The selection process and final order of each state were driven by a framework of core principles and strategic political, demographic and geographic requirements, as well as practical cost and organizational considerations.
In addition to one state from each of the country's four geographic regions, two states, New Mexico and Virginia, were granted early-window waivers as well to expand regional and demographic diversity.
Most significantly, the lineup will serve as a rigorous battle test of aspiring presidential candidates and their performance in major battleground states, and with a range of diverse constituencies that are crucial to winning the presidency in 2028. The list elevates the influence of Black, Latino, and working-class voters -- all key to the Democratic coalition -- and is being lauded as the most ethnically and geographically disparate field in the party's history.
Speaking to the full body of the DNC, Martin said that the 2028 Democratic nominee "will have to earn the support across the full breadth of America; every region, every demographic, every generation, every economic station in life, no shortcuts, no coronation. You wanna lead this party? You go earn it."
The lineup, however, faces at least one familiar challenge: the placement of New Hampshire third, in violation of its own state law, which requires the Granite State to hold the first-in-the-nation presidential primary -- a coveted status it has held since 1920.
After the 2024 shake-up of the early primary states, which placed New Hampshire second after South Carolina, state party leaders were left with no choice but to hold the earlier unsanctioned primary in defiance of the DNC rules. That led to severe penalties and the absence of then-President Joe Biden's name on the primary ballot.
State Democrats organized a grassroots write-in effort on his behalf for the January 23, 2024 primary -- which he won with 64% of the vote. While initially stripped of all 34 of their delegates, those were later reinstated after the state party held a second "firehouse" primary in April, which was certified as compliant by the DNC.
While the Republican National Committee has yet to announce its 2028 presidential nominating calendar, an internal rules committee voted in January to recommend the same lineup used in 2024 -- starting with Iowa and New Hampshire.
DemList will keep you informed.
| Resolutions were also passed honoring the Life and Career of Terje Anderson, Denee Barsalou, Merle Boucher, Karen Clark, Sylvia Collins, Liz Conmy, Lois Delmore, Barney Frank, G.A. Hardaway, Nathan Blake Jackson, Byron Knutson, Vonda McDaniel, David Scott and Nancy Wilson Cook |
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