When is the filing deadline to run for president in 2028?

People often picture one national 'deadline to run for president,' but there isn't one. Becoming a candidate and getting onto a ballot are two different things, governed by different rules. Federal Election Commission registration has no fixed calendar date: you become a candidate the moment you raise or spend more than $5,000 toward a campaign (or publicly declare), and you then have 15 days to file a Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2). That can happen years before the election or just before it.

The deadlines that matter for actually being on the ballot are the primary filing deadlines, and each state sets its own. A candidate who wants to compete in a state's 2028 presidential primary must file the required paperwork - a fee and/or a petition with a set number of voter signatures - by that state's deadline, which historically falls a few months before the state votes. Because the early 2028 primaries are expected around January and February 2028, the earliest state filing deadlines would likely land in late 2027, with others running into early 2028. The official 2028 primary calendar is not finalized by either party, so exact dates are not yet published.

For the general election, the major parties' nominees are placed on the ballot automatically in nearly every state after the conventions. Independent and third-party candidates face the hardest deadlines: they must petition onto the ballot state by state, often gathering thousands of signatures, with deadlines that historically run from roughly the spring through early fall of the election year (mid-2028). Missing even a few states' deadlines can keep a candidate off the ballot there entirely.

Bottom line: if you are asking as a voter, there is nothing you need to file - just register to vote before your state's deadline. If you are asking about candidates, watch two sources as 2028 firms up: the FEC (fec.gov) for registration filings, and each state's election authority (and the party calendars) for primary and ballot-access deadlines. We will update this page with confirmed 2028 dates as the parties and states publish them.