The 2024 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary was held on January 23, 2024, as part of the Democratic Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. This year's

New Hampshire primary The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest (the first being the Iowa caucuses) held in the United States every four years as part of the process of choosi ...

was not sanctioned by the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

(DNC). The DNC-approved 2024 calendar placed the South Carolina primary first, but New Hampshire state law mandates them to hold the first primary in the country, and a "bipartisan group of state politicians", including the chairs of the Democratic and the Republican parties, announced that the state would preserve this status. Thus, the DNC stripped all 33 of the state's delegates that would have been allocated to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

. Although running for a second term, incumbent President Joe Biden declined to appear on the New Hampshire ballot to comply with the DNC. His supporters nevertheless carried out a successful write-in campaign on his behalf that he did not endorse, winning over 60% of the vote. Philips also won a significant number of votes.

Controversies

Scheduling

Joe Biden sent a letter on December 1, 2022, to the "rule-making arm" of the

(DNC), requesting that "diversity" should be emphasized in the

2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses are being organized by the Democratic Party to select the delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2024 United States presidential election ...

, upending New Hampshire's tradition of being the first primary state. A December 2022 vote by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee the following day approved the change. On February 4, 2023, the DNC formally approved the new 2024 primary calendar, moving

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

to hold its race first on February 3, followed by

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and New Hampshire on February 6. One member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee who supported this new plan, Lee Saunders, further said it will give a better representation of the composition of the country. Members of the New Hampshire Democratic Party opposed the move, noted that moving their primary to comply with the new calendar would require changing New Hampshire state law mandating them to hold the first primary in the country. This was unlikely to happen since the state's legislature is controlled by Republicans, who are "unwilling" to change it. Republican New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu also criticized the DNC's plan as an "absolute joke ... It's just based on a personal preference of a candidate". The DNC originally gave New Hampshire until June to change their primary dates, then extended this deadline to September. But ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' reported that "there was little reason to expect a friendly resolution", since Republican New Hampshire Secretary of State

David Scanlan David M. Scanlan (born June 14, 1956) is an American politician and election official serving as the 54th Secretary of State of New Hampshire. He assumed office as Acting Secretary of State upon the resignation of Bill Gardner on January 10, 20 ...

has the sole power to set the state's presidential primary date, in accordance with the aforementioned New Hampshire law. Scanlan announced the January 23 primary date on November 15, criticizing the DNC and stating that "using racial diversity as a cudgel and an attempt to rearrange the presidential nominating calendar is an ugly precedent". The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee affirmed on January 6, 2024, that the primary is unsanctioned and non-binding, and is therefore "meaningless". Republican New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella sent a "

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

" letter to the DNC in response, accusing the DNC of voter suppression. The New Hampshire Democratic Party again committed to voting in alignment with the state law mandating that its primary be held first. The state party may still send their delegation to the Democratic National Convention anyway, hoping the DNC will reverse course similar to what happened in 2008 when

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

held their primaries earlier than the calendar allowed; after initially ruling both states would be stripped of all their delegates, it was decided to only penalize half of their delegates. DNC chair

Jaime Harrison Jaime R. Harrison (; born February 5, 1976) is an American attorney and politician who is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He previously served as the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 2013 to 2017. Harrison un ...

indicated on the night of the South Carolina primary that he would work towards seating the New Hampshire delegates, though the decision is ultimately in the hands of the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC.

AI robocall

NBC News reported on January 22, 2024, that the New Hampshire attorney general's office was investigating AI-generated robocalls seemingly from Biden which encouraged voters to skip voting on the day of the primary. Phillips was critical of the calls and called for more regulation in the AI sector. Aaron Jacobs, a spokesman for the Biden write-in campaign, indicated that the matter was referred to the police. Formella announced on February 6 that the robocalls had been traced to Texas-based Life Corporation and Lingo Telecom, after investigation by the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force as well as the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

Enforcement Bureau and other "state and federal agencies". Steve Kramer indicated on February 25 that he had commissioned the robocall. In mid-March, the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

and several New Hampshire voters filed a lawsuit against Kramer, Lingo Telecom, and Life Corporation.

Candidates

Official candidates on the ballot

The following candidates officially filed by the end of the filing deadline on October 27, 2023. In order to be listed on the ballot, candidates paid a $1,000 filing fee. * "President" R. Boddie *

Terrisa Bukovinac Terrisa Lin Bukovinac (born April 4, 1981) is an American anti-abortion activist. A member of the Democratic Party, she formerly served as president of Democrats for Life of America and is currently a candidate for the Democratic nomination fo ...

* Eban Cambridge * Gabriel Cornejo * Mark Stewart Greenstein * Tom Koos * Paul V. LaCava * Star Locke * Frankie Lozada * Stephen P. Lyons * Raymond Michael Moroz * Derek Nadeau * Jason Palmer * Armando "Mando" Perez-Serrato *

Dean Phillips Dean Benson Phillips (born January 20, 1969) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district since 2019. The district encompasses the western suburbs of the Twin Citi ...

* Donald Picard *

Paperboy Prince Paperboy Love Prince, also known as Paperboy Prince of the Suburbs, (born 1992/1993) is an American artist, community activist and political candidate who resides in Brooklyn, New York City. Early life Prince grew up in Washington, D.C. One of ...

* Richard Rist *

Vermin Supreme Vermin Love Supreme (born 1960 or 1961) is an American performance artist and activist who has run as a candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States. He served as a member of the Libertarian Party's judicial co ...

* John Vail * Marianne Williamson

Write-in campaigns

In addition to the candidates who made the ballot, several candidates ran write-in campaigns. Incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Joe Biden announced his bid for a second term on April 25, 2023. However, Biden's team indicated that he would not appear on the New Hampshire primary ballot if the state defies the DNC's calendar and schedules its race before South Carolina's. In October 2023, the manager for the Biden campaign,

Julie Chávez Rodriguez Julie Chávez Rodriguez (born 1979) is an American political rights activist and the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She grew up in California in a well-known family of American labor and civil rights activists, t ...

, confirmed in a letter to the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party

Raymond Buckley Raymond "Ray" Buckley (born 1959) is an American politician from the state of New Hampshire who currently serves as chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Buckley previously served as President of the Association of State Democratic Chairs ...

that Biden would not appear on the primary ballot in order to comply with the DNC's calendar. Pro-Biden New Hampshire Democrats, including Kathy Sullivan (the former chairwoman of the state Democratic party) and former Representatives

Paul Hodes Paul William Hodes (born March 21, 1951) is an American lawyer, musician, and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and was New Hampshire's first Jewish representative. Hodes was an un ...

and

Carol Shea-Porter Carol Shea-Porter (born December 2, 1952) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who is the former member of the United States House of Representatives for . She held the seat from 2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2015, and 2017 to 201 ...

, launched a formal write-in campaign on October 30, concluding that it would only hurt the Biden campaign if he lost the state's unsanctioned primary by default. In January 2024, voters promoting a ceasefire in the

Israel–Hamas war An armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups has been taking place chiefly in and around the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. On that day, Palestinian militant groups launched 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a surp ...

launched a write-in campaign for "ceasefire". New Hampshire secretary of state

has indicated that these "ceasefire" votes were tallied. Ultimately, "Ceasefire" received 1,497 votes, or 1.28%. Cenk Uygur, who filed for the ballot but was disqualified due to not being a natural-born citizen, told supporters to write him in in an X post the day of the primary. Despite not running in or campaigning in this primary,

independent politicians An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954) is an American environmental lawyer and author known for promoting anti-vaccine propaganda and conspiracy theories. Kennedy is a son of U.S. senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President ...

. and

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

each received notable numbers of write-in votes. Additionally, several candidates running in the concurrently held Republican primaries received sizable numbers of write-ins in the Democratic primary. In previous New Hampshire primaries, candidates of the opposite have received write-in votes from voters who missed the deadline to change their registration.

Endorsements

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Results

This is Biden's first primary victory in the state (though he has been on the ballot in the state's Democratic primary three other times).

Notes

References

{{2024 Democratic presidential primaries New Hampshire Democratic January 2024 events in the United States

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

Democratic primary This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Unit ...

Artificial intelligence 2024 controversies in the United States Joe Biden