Date Published: June 22, 2006   

South Carolina Democrats still hoping for early presidential primary

The Associated Press

South Carolina's Democratic Party hopes to be one of two states to join Iowa and New Hampshire in early presidential primary voting in 2008.

"We're still in the game," state party chairman Joe Erwin said Thursday after the Democratic National Committee's rules committee met and decided to allow just two other states to hold early primaries.

If the full DNC adopts the recommendation, one state would be allowed to hold a caucus between Iowa's caucus and the New Hampshire primary, and a second would hold a primary shortly after the New Hampshire contest.

In addition to South Carolina, nine states plus the District of Columbia have applied to fill the two slots: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada and West Virginia.

The committee will meet next month to select the two states.

Erwin said he expects the states to be from the South and the West, giving the national party a selection process that gauges black and Hispanic voter participation.

Erwin said the that would leave South Carolina competing against Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia.