Angry and offended New Hampshire Democrats muddy Biden’s write-in effort

President Joe Biden angered New Hampshire Democrats when his campaign failed to file for the state’s first-in-the-nation primary, instead opting to comply with the Democratic National Committee’s plan to make South Carolina’s contest the first primary.

The move has the potential to threaten Biden’s position going into the general election in 2024 as New Hampshire Democrats express outrage over both the DNC’s new primary calendar and Biden’s absence on the ballot. However, while the president’s name won’t automatically be on the ballot, there is a write-in effort underway to help Biden pull off a win in the Granite State.

BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY: HOUSE VOTE INCLUDES ‘SIDECAR’ RESOLUTION TO ENFORCE SUBPOENAS

In February, the DNC overwhelmingly approved the proposal, recommended by Biden, to change the primary calendar. This involved moving South Carolina to the first-in-the-nation primary slot and pushing New Hampshire to Feb. 6, a date it would share with Nevada.

Democrats in the state were infuriated by the decision. New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said in a statement at the time, “The fight is not over,” foreshadowing the state’s ultimate decision not to abide by the DNC’s decision.

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey/Charles Krupa)

Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez explained the campaign’s failure to file for the state’s primary in October in a letter to Buckley. “While the president wishes to participate in the primary, he is obligated to comply” with the DNC, she said.

“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,” she added.

As a result of the DNC’s decision to shuffle their primary calendar, state House Speaker Steve Shurtleff moved to endorse Biden challenger Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) in his effort to defeat Biden. The prominent endorsement came shortly after the Minnesota Democrat launched his campaign in New Hampshire.

“We’ve been doing it for over 100 years now, and I was really disappointed that the president decided to let [the] DNC put South Carolina above New Hampshire,” he told the Washington Examiner in an interview.

Meanwhile, the campaign to convince Democratic and independent voters in New Hampshire to participate in the write-in effort began at the end of October, shortly after Biden opted against filing for the historically first-in-the-nation primary.

The effort is only backed by roughly $50,000 to $70,000 and lacks the budget of a presidential campaign, which could present a challenge. However, the write-in movement is being supported by dozens of lawmakers and prominent Democrats in the state, including state Sens. Donna Soucy, Becky Whitley, Cindy Rosenwald, David Watters, and Debora Altschiller, among others.

Shurtleff predicts that Phillips will beat Biden in the state’s primary, adding, “In some respects, the write-in campaign could backfire on the president.”

“If he isn’t successful. It would really put them in a bad light coming out of New Hampshire,” he said, noting the state’s status as a barometer for candidate success.

Shurtleff noted that if Biden were to win, but only by a plurality, it could still hurt him, as “he’s really got to dominate the balloting” to look good coming out of the state.

He continued, “For congressman Phillips, just to come within maybe 10 points of the president in the final numbers, I think that’d be a victory in itself.”

Still, despite Biden not filing, Buckley said in a statement in October that he believes Biden will win the state’s primary.

“The reality is that Joe Biden will win the New Hampshire First-in-the-Nation Primary in January, win renomination in Chicago and will be re-elected next November,” He said. “New Hampshire voters know and trust Joe Biden, that’s why he is leading Trump in New Hampshire by double digits.”

The write-in effort did score a win earlier this month, however, enlisting the public support of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). “Let’s kick off 2024 by writing in Biden and making our first-in-the-nation primary the very first victory for the Biden-Harris reelection team,” she told guests at a New Hampshire Democratic Party fundraising dinner.

Without the president and his campaign there, the write-in effort isn’t casting as wide a net as a traditional presidential campaign might, instead having a targeted and narrow focus.

One of the priorities for the campaign is getting volunteers to hold Biden write-in signs at every polling location in the state, reminding primary voters to do so on the day of the election. Leaders of the movement are also attending local Democratic events to tout the effort specifically to the audience expected to participate.

On Wednesday, the write-in effort sent out a press release notifying voters that the sample ballot had been revealed by Secretary of State David Scanlan.

“Absentee voters need to know not only that they can easily write-in Joe Biden on their ballot, but also how important it is for the future of our democracy that they do so,” Brennan, who is part of the state’s House Election Law committee, said in a statement. “I encourage all New Hampshire voters—whether they vote absentee or at their local polling location on January 23 – to familiarize themselves with the sample ballot released today and how simple it is to fill in the bubble at the bottom of the ballot and write in their preferred candidate for President.”

On the state’s sample ballot, Phillips is featured at the top. Phillips had long been encouraging a well-known Democrat to step up and challenge Biden in the primary, citing polls that show increasing concerns over his age and mental acuity as well as his low approval ratings. However, when no other contender emerged, Phillips himself launched a campaign to take on Biden in October.

Marianne Williamson, an author who ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, will also appear on the state’s ballot.

Phillips, still relatively unknown across the country, has said that his path to the nomination runs straight through New Hampshire, where Biden has opened a window of opportunity. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, he accused the DNC of telling “New Hampshire voters that their votes won’t count.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

In New Hampshire Democratic primary polling conducted after Biden’s failure to file and the launch of Phillips’s campaign, Biden’s support fell from 78% in September to 65% in November, and Phillips saw 10% just weeks after announcing. For the Minnesota Democrat, this is markedly higher than his national support, which sits at 4%.

Williamson, who has been campaigning since March, saw 9% support in the recent New Hampshire survey.