The DNC held its 2026 Summer Meeting August 13–15 in Austin, Texas in the midst of a terrific heatwave. August in an election year also meant that the meeting was largely made up of DNC members, as elected officials up for office were campaigning in their home states.
The most impactful result of the three day meeting was the approval of the Delegate Selection Process (DSP), the rules template that each state party must incorporate into its own Delegate Selection Process as we each plan our 2028 presidential primary. Democrats Abroad will be starting to review our own plan shortly, and will present a working draft to our voting body in early 2027 for comments and then approval later in the spring of 2027.
Early State Primary Calendar
Key to approval of the DNC Delegate Selection Process was the agreement by the body on the calendar for the 2028 presidential nominating process. After months of discussion and debate, we now have six states that will serve as our litmus test states in 2028 - holding their primaries early in 2028 before Super Tuesday primaries kick off across the country and abroad.
The states in order of their primaries are South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia.
Together, these states encompass a very diverse group of voters, with substantially greater representation of Black, Latino, Asian Pacific, Native American, younger, working-class, union, and military and veteran voters than previous early-window states offered. Because of their diversity, size, and regional spread, they give candidates the chance to prove themselves early while building support across the country, rather than just in their own state or region.
There was considerable debate over a proposed rule change in the Delegate Selection Process which would have limited rank choice voting usage in our state presidential primaries to first round results only. Ultimately, the body voted to remove that language, and the rule reverted to its 2024 status, which allows each state to present its preferred voting method to the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee for approval.
Also notable in the DSP was a definition change for Democratic National Convention Pages, which now asks states to make efforts to ensure our Convention Pages are 35 or younger and that they reflect the diversity of the Democratic Party. Democrats Abroad has been allocated an additional Page, so we now have two.
Resolutions
The Resolutions Committee considered and passed 32 messaging resolutions covering voting rights, immigration enforcement, labor, climate, media independence, public lands, homelessness, food assistance, constitutional rights, the Supreme Court's “shadow docket,” and Democratic Party organization. It also passed 14 commemorative resolutions honoring Democratic leaders.
The most notable resolution in the packet focused on ICE, with “Abolish ICE” ultimately becoming official DNC messaging. After an amendment to change the language to “completely restructure” ICE was withdrawn, the Resolutions Committee voted to retain the original “abolish ICE” language. The full DNC subsequently approved the resolutions package by voice vote, including the ICE resolution.
Dive into the Details
As usual, members gathered on Wednesday afternoon for a Chair’s reception and networking, and DA leaders were able to catch up with DNC chair Ken Martin and many of our colleagues from across the United States to discuss our mutual work this fall.
Thursday’s agenda included workshops and the Resolutions committee meeting. Workshops dove into communications work, voter protection, getting out the vote, social media outreach, and one of our favorites - “There Will be an Election on November 3, 2026”. Presented by Adrian Fontes (Arizona Secretary of State) and Reyna Walters-Morgan (DNC VC and former Voter Protection Officer for the DNC), this illuminating presentation laid out the concerns that voters have across the country regarding the state of the elections this year, and how Secretary of States, Attorney Generals, and the DNC are helping to ensure those concerns do not become reality.
Friday included meetings of the Youth Council, Executive Committee, and Environmental and Climate Crisis Council.
At the Youth Council, DNC Chair Ken Martin emphasized the importance of youth voices in the Party and highlighted the work of the Rules and Bylaws Committee on the 2028 nominating calendar. Congressman Greg Casar also encouraged young Democrats to get involved in Democratic leadership work (don’t wait!).
The Environmental and Climate Crisis Council focused on climate, environmental justice, and winning elections in states such as Texas and Arizona. A central message from the panels and polling was that Democrats should not accept the premise that voters have to choose between climate action and affordability. Connecting climate and conservation to energy costs, data centers, and corporate polluters was presented as a potentially powerful electoral message.
The Executive Committee also heard reports from the RBC, Resolutions Committee, and Budget Oversight Committee.
The Rules and Bylaws Committee presented the plans for the 2028 primary process, emphasising the new calendar and the increased representation of key Democratic and American constituencies that were represented in the early states. They signaled that rules around ranked choice voting would be rolled back to the previous (2024) language at the general session (as discussed above).
Resolutions Committee Co-Chair Ron Harris made the case that resolutions remain important because Democratic voters expect the Party to articulate what it stands for, and that the Party should not be afraid of debate or dissent. He emphasized that in order for the resolutions to be more than words on paper, Democrats must win elections and put the proposed policies into effect.
The Budget Oversight Committee reported that the DNC has increased the transparency over the budget and gives more complete reports to the committee than before. Donations to the party are always smaller when Democrats are out of power in Washington, but this has been the best fundraising cycle ever when we don’t have the presidency or either branch of congress. In particular, grassroots fundraising is setting records. The other notable thing about this cycle is that the DNC has spent the money much earlier, setting up year round organizing capability in every state. This means that even with the record fundraising the cash on hand is less than comparable cycles. Year round organizing in every state was a promise made by chair Ken Martin and it has been kept. Increasing fundraising to fund even more activity is a focus of everyone at the DNC.
Saturday was the most consequential day of the meeting, with the General Session addressing the 2028 Delegate Selection Process, the early-state calendar, and the resolutions package.
Overall, the DA DNC team came away from the meeting excited to have helped shape the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating process and to have weighed in on key issues the Democratic Party will take into the next election cycle.