South Carolina’s Clyburn Set To Emerge From Primary as the Biggest Democratic Kingmaker for 2028

Congressman James Clyburn is set to emerge from South Carolina’s primary on June 9 as a bigger kingmaker than ever. With redistricting putting a dozen Black House Democrats at risk in the next two cycles, the 85-year-old is daring the party to reduce the role of his state and constituents in picking the party’s 2028 presidential nominee.On Saturday, the co-host of MS NOW’s “The Weekend,” Eugene Daniels, prompted Mr. Clyburn to weigh in on the looming battle. Democrats, the host noted, are “saying” that they “want to make sure” to “protect black political” and “voting power.” But “South Carolina doesn’t need to be first or second in the primary calendar.”Mr. Clyburn said it would be “a slap in the face” to demote South Carolina. In 2020, his endorsement helped deliver 39 of the Palmetto State’s 54 delegates to President Biden — winless in the three contests up to that point — and steered his moribund campaign on the road to the White House.In February of 2023, the Democratic National Committee gave South Carolina the top spot for 2024, leapfrogging Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. The argument was that the state had a more diverse electorate, both of race and economic standing, which better reflected national demographics.“Black voters in particular,” Mr. Biden wrote in a December 2022 letter backing the change, “have been the backbone of the Democratic Party, but have been pushed to the back of the early primary process… It is time to stop taking these voters for granted” and “give them a louder and earlier voice in the process.”On MS NOW, Mr. Clyburn called starting with South Carolina “a formula that has worked extremely well — not just worked well, extremely well. … But some people sitting up here in Washington want to change the game. That is not a formula for success.”Mr. Clyburn is fond of paraphrasing a Bible verse that the young are called to service for their strength and the old for their wisdom. Now he’s on track to be the second-oldest voting Democrat in the next House after Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California.Unlike Ms. Waters, though, Mr. Clyburn has been a member of the House leadership and is wielding increased influence in a key state. Just 90 minutes after South Carolina Democrats began their annual Blue Palmetto fundraising dinner on Friday, he kicked off his 34th World Famous Fish Fry. In 2019, the event drew 21 White House hopefuls.Unlike other Black Democrats, Mr. Clyburn’s position has been strengthened by the redistricting push in Republican states. The GOP effort aims to offset disadvantages in places like New England, whose 21 congressional districts are all occupied by Democrats, and takes advantage of the recent Supreme Court ruling judging race-based districts unconstitutional.Yet last week, Republicans in South Carolina’s legislature rebuffed President Trump’s pressure to draw Mr. Clyburn out of his district. Although the main argument against the new map was that votes had already been cast for this month’s primary, it was also a sign of the Democratic power broker’s ability to rally support.Mr. Clyburn is again the favorite to keep the seat he’s held since 1993. Like his primary challenger, the victor of the two-way Republican contest will face stiff headwinds in the state’s sixth district. In 2024, the GOP candidate drew just 37 percent of the vote against the incumbent’s 60 percent.A Palmetto State representative, Roger Kirby, told members of the Democratic National Committee last week that the local party there had “been through hell,” but Mr. Clyburn had prevailed. “The fight is on,” Mr. Kirby said of 2028’s nominating contests. “This is not the time for you, the DNC, to take away South Carolina’s first-in-nation primary.”The day before this year’s fish fry, party chairmen in five southern states wrote the DNC urging them to keep South Carolina’s primary in the pole position. It’s a reflection that Mr. Clyburn is emerging from the redistricting battle as a louder, if lonelier, voice for Black Democrats — an old-school kingmaker in the party of “No Kings.”

South Carolina’s Clyburn Set To Emerge From Primary as the Biggest Democratic Kingmaker for 2028

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