South Carolina's selection as the first 2028 Democratic presidential primary on January 22 has elevated its role, emphasizing its diverse electorate and Black voters as key factors in early momentum. With no major candidates having declared and a wide-open field more than a year out, trader consensus shows Jon Ossoff at 33.5% ahead of Kamala Harris and Raphael Warnock near 19%, followed by Gavin Newsom at 14.5% and lower shares for others. The recent Democratic Senate victory in the state and ongoing visits by potential contenders have kept probabilities distributed without clear separation. Scheduled events such as candidate announcements, South Carolina-specific polling, and local endorsements could shift positioning ahead of the primary.
South Carolina is expected to hold its Democratic presidential primary for the 2028 presidential election on January 22, 2028. This market will resolve to the candidate who wins the most votes in the South Carolina Democratic primary, caucus, or other official process by which the public directs the selection of delegates for the 2028 Democratic Convention. If the relevant delegate selection process is a caucus or other multi-round process, the relevant vote count will be the final round vote count. The named candidates will be primarily ranked by the number of valid votes received in the specified election. If two or more candidates are tied on valid votes, ties will be broken by alphabetical order of the candidates' last names. This market will resolve to the candidate that occupies the highest finishing position after applying this ranking. If no 2028 South Carolina primary, caucus, or comparable process takes place, or if the results are not definitively known by August 1, 2028, 11:59 PM ET, this market will resolve to “Other.” The resolution source for this market will be the first official announcement of the complete results from the South Carolina Democratic Party; however, an overwhelming consensus of credible reporting may suffice.