SENECA, S.C. — The first presidential primary votes won’t be cast for 2 1/2 more years. And yet, over the span of 10 days in July, three Democratic presidential prospects are scheduled to campaign in South Carolina.

Nearly a half-dozen others have made recent pilgrimages to South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa — states that traditionally host the nation’s opening presidential nomination contests. Still other ambitious Democrats are having private conversations with officials in those states.

The voters in these states are used to seeing presidential contenders months or even years before most of the country, but the political jockeying in 2025 for the 2028 presidential contest appears to be playing out earlier, with more frequency and with less pretense than ever before.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was referred to as a presidential candidate at one stop in his two-day South Carolina tour last week. Voters shouted “2028!” after he insisted he was there simply to strengthen the party ahead of the 2026 midterms. South Carolina has virtually no competitive midterm contests.

Term-limited Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who acknowledges that he’s considering a 2028 bid, will spend two days touring South Carolina this week. He will focus on union members in addition to the state’s Black community in a speech that could draw an implicit contrast with Newsom on cultural issues, according to excerpts of his planned remarks obtained by The Associated Press.

California Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ wing of the Democratic Party, will target Black voters when he’s in the state a few days later with Illinois Rep. Jonathan Jackson, the son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

And former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is having private conversations with key South Carolina Democrats, including presidential primary kingmaker Rep. Jim Clyburn, in which Emanuel indicated strong interest in a presidential run. That’s according to Clyburn, who said he has also had direct contact with Beshear and Khanna after appearing alongside Newsom last week and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore in May.

“That’s what candidates have to do, position themselves and be ready when lightning strikes,” he said.

The unusually early jockeying is playing out as the Democratic Party struggles to repair its brand, rebuild its message and fill a leadership vacuum after losing the White House and both chambers of Congress in 2024.

Democrats are decidedly more optimistic about 2028.

Republicans will not have the advantage of incumbency in the next presidential contest; the Constitution bars President Donald Trump from seeking a third term.

And the race for the Democratic nomination appears to be wide open, even as 2024 nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have left open the possibility of running again.

With no clear front-runner, some Democratic operatives believe that upward of 30 high-profile Democrats could ultimately enter the 2028 primary — more than the party’s overpacked 2020 field.

As Democrats struggle to stop Trump’s power grabs in Washington, some report a real sense of urgency to get the 2028 process started.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a rising Democratic star, told the AP this year that presidential prospects “need to be more visible earlier” as party officials look to take cues from a new generation of leaders.

“What freaks most Democrats out is not really understanding who’s up next. Like, who’s got next?” she said. “And I think that that is really what people want most. They want their presidential nominee now.”

Beshear, Kentucky’s 47-year-old two-term governor, is scheduled to make his first visit to South Carolina on political grounds Wednesday.

He’ll start by addressing the AFL-CIO before promoting his appeal among red-state moderates and Black voters in a Thursday speech hosted by the Georgetown County Democrats in a region that voted three times for Trump and has a large Black population.

“Democrats have a huge opportunity to seize the middle and win back the voters who have been increasingly skeptical of the Democratic brand. But it’s going to take focus and discipline,” Beshear is expected to say, according to speech excerpts obtained by the AP.

There are no direct jabs at Newsom in the excerpts, but Beshear is expected to continue drawing contrasts with the California governor, who suggested this year that his party went too far in embracing “woke” priorities. In his prepared remarks, Beshear doesn’t shy away from such progressive cultural issues.

He will note that he made Juneteenth an executive branch holiday for the first time in Kentucky; signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination against state workers for how they wear their hair; and ordered the removal of a statue of Jefferson Davis, who served as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

“The current federal administration wants to make diversity a dirty word,” Beshear plans to say. “They want people to believe that equity means everyone isn’t worthy of opportunities.”

Already this year, Walz and Moore have addressed South Carolina Democrats.

Biden Cabinet member Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 presidential candidate, hosted a town hall in Iowa in May. The month before, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker headlined a Democratic fundraiser in New Hampshire.

Newsom spent much of last year denying interest in a presidential run. But with his final term as governor set to expire at the end of next year, his 2028 ambitions are starting to emerge more publicly.

During his recent South Carolina tour, Newsom only smiled when voters shouted “2028!” after he referenced his focus on the 2026 midterms.

Clyburn said openly what the California governor would not. Appearing with Newsom, he encouraged local Democrats to be energized by the visits of “presidential candidates” coming early and often to their state.

Newsom looked around, seemingly seeking the object of Clyburn’s remark, as the crowd laughed.

In an interview afterward, Clyburn said he doesn’t have an early favorite in the 2028 Democratic nomination contest.

Party leaders in New Hampshire are privately encouraging other 2028 prospects to visit the state, which features two competitive House races and a top-tier Senate election next year.