Presidential Primary

Sen. Tim Scott on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, filed his candidacy paperwork to run for South Carolina's Republican presidential primary on Feb. 24, 2024.

South Carolina natives Nikki Haley and Tim Scott had the early-voting state to themselves Aug. 28 as each court voters for the GOP presidential nomination.

South Carolina Republicans have set Feb. 24 as the date of their 2024 presidential primary. Party official Hope Walker says the executive committee voted Saturday. Walker says setting that day gives GOP White House hopefuls more time to campaign in the first-in-the-South state after Nevada. The selection still needs approval from the Republican National Committee. The move comes as both major parties make moves to solidify their voting calendars ahead of the 2024 nominating process.

Sen. Tim Scott joins a growing list of GOP presidential primary contenders and is the second from South Carolina.

New Hampshire voters would decide whether to enshrine the state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary in their constitution under a bill passed by the state Senate. If 60% of the House agrees, voters would be asked in November 2024 whether to add language to the constitution mirroring an existing state law that requires the primary to be held at least seven days before any similar contest. It was one of two bills passed by the Senate as a rebuke to the Democratic National Committee, which last month approved replacing the Iowa caucus with the South Carolina primary in the leadoff position in 2024 and having New Hampshire share the second slot with Nevada.

Few have navigated the turbulent politics of the Trump era like Nikki Haley. She once vowed not to step in the way if former President Donald Trump ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. But on Wednesday, she will become the first major Republican candidate to enter the race against him.

The Democratic Party on Saturday approved the reordering of its 2024 presidential primary, replacing Iowa with South Carolina in the leadoff spot as part of a major shake-up meant to empower Black and other minority voters critical to its base of support.