All eyes are on Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary — but President Biden won’t be on the Granite State’s Democratic ballot, even as he runs for a second term in 2024.
His absence comes amid controversy between state and national Democrats over New Hampshire’s place in the party’s presidential nominating calendar, driven by a national Democratic desire to diversify the early voting electorate versus a state law.
Here’s what happened.
DNC puts forth calendar shakeup
As part of a plan to reshuffle the long-standing party lineup, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) set forth a new schedule that booted New Hampshire from its first-place slot, moving up South Carolina’s primary to kick off the voting process.
The Biden-backed shake-up was intended to add more diversity to the party’s calendar, boosting voices of color by putting more demographically diverse states earlier in the timeline. States that vote or caucus first are widely seen as key to the trajectory and momentum of the cycle.
“Too often over the past fifty years, candidates have dropped out or had their candidacies marginalized by the press and pundits because of poor performances in small states early in the process before voters of color cast a vote,” Biden wrote in a 2022 letter to the DNC.
But the plan drew the ire of New Hampshire Democrats.
“The DNC did not give New Hampshire the first-in-the-nation primary and it is not theirs to take away,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley said at the time.
New Hampshire sticks to first-place status
Under the DNC’s plan, New Hampshire Democrats would cast ballots Feb. 6, three days after South Carolina’s Feb. 3 Democratic primary.
The Granite State bucked that schedule, arguing state law requires its primaries be held at least seven days before any other state.
So New Hampshire Democrats will hold a first-in-the-nation contest Jan. 23, the same day as the Republican primary in the state — and, in defiance of the DNC, roughly two weeks before the Palmetto State’s Democratic contest.
“State law requires the New Hampshire Secretary of State to conduct the first-in-the-nation primary and he is going to follow the law — period. Nothing has changed, and we look forward to seeing a great Democratic voter turnout on January 23rd,” the state party told The Hill earlier this month.
Biden doesn’t file for primary ballot
After New Hampshire’s move to hold the January primary, Biden decided not to file to put his name on the state’s ballot.
Biden was “obligated to comply” with the DNC’s rules and skip the contest, wrote Julie Chavez Rodriguez, manager of Biden’s reelection campaign, in a letter to Buckley back in October.
“The president looks forward to having his name on New Hampshire’s general election ballot as the nominee of the Democratic Party after officially securing the nomination at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, where he will tirelessly campaign to earn every single vote in the Granite State next November,” Rodriguez said at the time.
Biden is the Democratic front-runner in New Hampshire and on the national stage, meaning his move not to file for the Granite State isn’t expected to impact him heavily, though a strong showing from a Biden challenger could raise questions for the president’s campaign.
He’s leading former President Trump, the GOP front-runner, by 7 points in a hypothetical match-up in the state, according to new Marist polling released Friday.
“The reality is that Joe Biden will win the NH FITN Primary in January, win renomination in Chicago and will be re-elected next November. NH voters know and trust Joe Biden that’s why he is leading Trump in NH by double digits,” Buckley said when Biden announced his plans.
NH, national Dems squabble over delegates
Earlier this month, after hearing that the New Hampshire Democratic Party intended to host a delegate selection process, the DNC knocked the Jan. 23 primary as “detrimental,” arguing it “cannot be used as the first determining stage of the state’s delegate selection process.”
“The NHDP must take steps to educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preference event and is meaningless and the NHDP and presidential candidates should take all steps possible not to participate,” reads the letter from the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee, stressing that the Tuesday primary should have no bearing on delegates for the party’s national convention this summer.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella (R) then issued a cease-and-desist order against the DNC, arguing that the national party must stop repeating the “false, deceptive, and misleading statement” claim that the primary is “meaningless.”
“Regardless of whether the DNC refuses to award delegates to the party’s national convention based on the results of the January 23, 2024, New Hampshire democratic Presidential Primary Election, this New Hampshire election is not ‘meaningless,’” the letter reads.
The state would normally have determined the allocation of the state’s 23 pledged delegates, but the DNC says there are zero delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s contest.
Biden supporters push write-in campaign
Biden supporters in New Hampshire are planning to write in the incumbent’s name as he complies with the DNC guidance that he stay out of the unsanctioned Tuesday contest.
The “private, grassroots” effort of Granite State Democrats and independents is gunning to make sure Biden still wins the state against self-help author Marianne Williamson and Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.).
“On the night of the New Hampshire primary, the eyes of the world will turn to the very first votes cast of the 2024 election – and it’s important to show the world that thousands of New Hampshire voters are supporting President Joe Biden,” the “Write-In Joe Biden” campaign website reads.
