Democrats in New Hampshire have launched a write-in campaign to ensure President Joe Biden appears on the ballot during the state’s primary.
Biden and the Democratic National Committee pushed to change the order in which states hold their caucuses and primaries. The president and the Democrats had hoped to delay the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary – historically the first in the nation – and begin primary voting in South Carolina.
Write-In Biden, the newly formed activist group, is backed by Democratic state senators, representatives, and judges. The group says it is “dedicated to protecting our democracy from MAGA extremism and moving our state and country forward.”
“While misguided DNC rules will leave Joe Biden off the primary ballot here in 2024, New Hampshire Democrats and Democrat-leaning Independents overwhelmingly support Joe Biden and plan to write him in," the group wrote on its website. “Supporting our democracy is much more important than party politics or misguided DNC rules. This is about doing what’s right for our country.”
“We in New Hampshire have said all along that whatever the DNC does, NH will follow its law and have the first presidential primary,” Write-In Biden added. “Well, we’re having the first in the nation primary — and now it’s up to us to show the nation and world that Joe Biden is the president we need to protect our freedom.”
The Biden campaign never filed to appear on the New Hampshire ballot in compliance with state law. The DNC formally altered its primary calendar in February to lead off with South Carolina.
Biden, who came in fifth place in New Hampshire during the 2020 primary, said in December that changing the order of the primaries would increase racial representation.
“We must ensure that voters of color have a voice in choosing our nominees much earlier in the process and throughout the entire early window,” Biden wrote in a letter to the DNC. “Our early states must reflect the overall diversity of our party and our nation – economically, geographically, and demographically. This means more diverse states earlier in the process and more diversity in the overall mix of early states.”
Biden won South Carolina by 29 points in 2020.
New Hampshire Democrats have repeatedly urged Biden and the DNC to honor the traditional schedule, warning that a change could benefit Republicans as they campaign for the White House.
“For more than 100 years, and long before the DNC regulated the primary calendar, Presidential candidates have started their campaigns in New Hampshire,” state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley wrote in a letter to the DNC in April of 2022. “They have seen, up close and personal, just how seriously Granite Staters take their role in the first presidential primary in the nation and have come to appreciate the unique role that only New Hampshire can play in the race for the White House.”
Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who initially launched his 2024 presidential campaign as a Democrat, stressed his dedication to New Hampshire while campaigning in June.
South Carolina is scheduled to hold its primary on Feb. 3. New Hampshire has not yet set a date for its primary, which is traditionally held on the Tuesday after the Iowa caucus. State law also requires the primary to be held seven days before any other primaries.
The New Hampshire primary may be scheduled for Jan. 23, which meets the parameters set out by state law.
