Democratic Party Rules & Bylaws Committee Issues Recommendations for Six Earliest Presidential Primaries

Posted on by July 25, 2026
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On July 24, the Democratic Party’s Rules & Bylaws Committee issued its hopes for the 2028 presidential primary schedule. The most drastic change was for New Mexico, which has always held presidential primaries in June. The party recommended that New Mexico hold its 2028 presidential primary on February 15. The Democratic Party controls state government in New Mexico, so it is likely the legislature in 2027 will pass a bill to implement that much earlier primary date. It is unclear if the legislature would leave the primary for non-presidential office in June.

The Committee also recommended that South Carolina hold its primary before any other Democratic primary, and to hold it on January 22. In 2024 South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary was February 3.

The Committee wants Nevada second, and New Hampshire third, but the party doesn’t have enough legislature support in New Hampshire to amend the state law that says the New Hampshire primary must always be the earliest presidential primary. The Democratic Party wants New Mexico fourth, Michigan fifth, and Virginia sixth. Those six states would be the only ones with primaries earlier than March.

July 2026 Ballot Access News Print Edition

Posted on by July 24, 2026
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MAJOR PARTY SHARE OF REGISTRATION DROPS BELOW 65%
FOR FIRST TIME IN AT LEAST 90 YEARS

 For the first time in at least ninety years (and probably for the first time ever), the percentage of voters who are registered into one or the other of the two major parties is below 65%.  Democratic Party registration is at an all-time low, and Republican Party registration is near its all-time low.  See the percentages below, for the period February 1993 through July 2026 (the two digit numbers in the “Date” column are the last two digits of the year):

DATE DEM. REP. TOT.
Feb 93 47.76 32.97 80.73
Dec 94 47.80 34.27 82.07
Feb 96 47.66 35.12 82.78
Dec 96 45.69 33.79 79.48
May 98 45.12 32.25 77.37
Dec 98 44.94 33.26 78.20
Apr 00 44.40 33.00 77.40
Dec 00 43.74 32.78 76.62
Sep 02 42.85 32.52 75.37
Dec 02 42.68 32.55 75.23
Feb 04 42.19 32.79 74.98
Dec 04 41.87 32.32 74.19
July 06 41.51 32.23 73.74
Jan 07 41.64 32.39 74.03
Mar 08 41.66 31.89 73.55
Dec 08 43.62 30.72 74.34
June 10 43.35 30.43 73.78
Dec 10 42.98 30.58 73.56
Feb 12 42.64 30.79 73.43
Dec 12 41.88 30.13 72.01
Apr 14 41.45 29.88 71.33
Dec 14 41.17 29.79 70.96
DATE DEM. REP. TOT.
Mar 16 40.60 29.90 70.50
Dec 16 40.60 29.37 69.97
Aug 17 40.27 29.55 69.82
Mar 18 40.00 29.33 69.33
Nov 18 39.91 29.19 69.10
Mar 20 39.66 28.87 68.53
Nov 20 39.67 29.51 69.18
Mar 21 39.58 29.48 69.06
Dec 21 39.48 29.38 68.86
Aug 22 39.06 29.57 68.63
Dec 22 38.73 29.60 68.33
Dec 23 38.09 29.65 67.74
June 24 37.60 30.05 67.65
Nov 24 37.07 30.40 67.47
Dec 25 35.29 29.88 65.17
July 26 34.96 29.80 64.76

This data was collected by B.A.N. and published in many past issues.  For years before 1993, no attempt was made to collect the data from all the states that have partisan registration.  But enough data is at hand for the period 1940 through 1991 to know that the two party registration in those years was even higher than in the 1990’s.  Data for the years 1940-1991 exists in published state sources for California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The drop in major party share of the registrations is accelerating, as one can see from the December 2025 and July 2026 data.

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Alaska Division of Elections Omits Daniel J. Sullivan’s Party from the Sample Ballot

Posted on by July 24, 2026
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Here is the Alaska primary ballot for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative. Daniel J. Sullivan, who is running for U.S. Senate, has no party label on the ballot even though he is a registered Republican. The Division of Elections initially refused to list him at all, but the State Supreme Court ordered that he be listed. In response, the Division has somewhat churlishly omitted his party label. The Director ofthe Division says this is to enable voters to distinguish between U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan.