Biden slammed by New Hampshire secretary of state for decision to ‘shun’ voters

New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan slammed President Joe Biden for opting not to file for the state’s Democratic presidential primary in 2024.

Biden’s campaign announced on Tuesday it would not file to run in the primary but still intended to file to run in the general election in the Granite State. Scanlan criticized the decision as “not unexpected but still disappointing.”

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“The decision for President Biden to shun voters of the New Hampshire ‘First-in-the-Nation’ Presidential Primary is not unexpected but still disappointing,” Scanlan said in a statement. “Despite all the rhetoric about diversity in the presidential nominating process, this issue is really about who determines the eventual nominee — the national political party or the voters.”

Scanlan, a Republican, also defended the state as the “purest form of democracy in the presidential nominating process” after the Democratic National Committee changed its nominating schedule to upend the state from its first-in-the-nation status.

“New Hampshire remains the only place where ANY United States citizen who is qualified to run for president can attempt to make it happen. Ballot access is extremely easy, and a candidate does not need high name recognition or wealth to run a campaign here. For over 100 years, New Hampshire has represented the purest form of democracy in the presidential nominating process, and we will fight to protect it,” Scanlan said.

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Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a letter to the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party that the president would not file for the primary after receiving guidance from the DNC.

“While the president wishes to participate in the Primary, he is obligated as a Democratic candidate for President to comply with the Delegate Selection Rules for the 2024 Democratic National Convention promulgated by the Democratic National Committee,” she wrote. “On October 24, 2023, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules & Bylaws Committee issued guidance urging Democratic campaigns to refrain from placing candidates’ names on the ballot.”

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“Biden for President will refrain from submitting a Declaration of Candidacy for the Primary ahead of Friday’s candidate filing deadline for the Primary,” she added.

Biden’s decision not to appear on the New Hampshire ballot comes as reports suggest Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) will announce a challenge to Biden from the Granite State on Friday. Phillips is expected to file for the New Hampshire primary at that announcement.