With attention sharpening on the first presidential nominating contests of the 2024 election next month, Democrats in the long-time early primary state of New Hampshire are coming to grips with their vexing reality: their party’s national leader, the incumbent president, won’t be on their ballots in January.

What You Need To Know

  • Democrats in the long-time early primary state of New Hampshire are coming to grips with their vexing reality: their party’s national leader, the incumbent president, won’t be on their ballots in January's primary 
  • Despite lingering disappointment from Democrats at the Democratic National Committee’s move to change up its primary calendar, local Democrats in the state are volunteering to promote President Joe Biden as a write-in candidate in the primary 
  • Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee approved a new 2024 primary calendar that shook up the order of the party’s nominating contests; the new lineup placed South Carolina in the number one spot and stripped New Hampshire of its long-held title as the first primary in the nation 
  • New Hampshire bucked the Democrats' new lineup and is moving forward with holding its primary for both parties first 

It is now just weeks until voters in the Granite state will take to the polls – a time period in which candidates may typically seek to rally their supporters to the ballot booth or woo new voters on the ground. 

This election year, in New Hampshire, Democratic volunteers across the state are using the time to deploy every tool available to ensure voters know casting a ballot for President Joe Biden is still an option.

“Despite the fact that those of us who think about it, think that the DNC rules are misguided, we know that a majority of Democrats and Independents across New Hampshire support President Biden,” former Democratic New Hampshire House Speaker Terie Norelli said in an interview with Spectrum News. 

“Our goal is to make sure that we are educating the public and that he will not be on the ballot. But if you support him and want to vote for him, this is how you can still do it,” she said. 

Despite lingering disappointment from Democrats at the Democratic National Committee’s move to change up its primary calendar, Norelli has joined forces with a range of volunteers to help lead a write-in campaign effort, informing people of how to cast a ballot for the incumbent president. 

“Anybody from incumbent state senators and House members, and former elected officials to local people who are active with their local Democratic Party, to people who just care about this election,” Norelli said of those involved. 

Volunteers get together every other week via a call drawing around 80 people, Norelli added. 

Currently the group is focusing on speaking to local Democratic organizations, explaining the situation and recruiting potential new volunteers for the write-in effort. 

But the former New Hampshire House speaker added a key goal is working to line up volunteers to be present at as many polling sites across the state as possible on primary day. Those volunteers will serve as the last opportunity to inform those coming to cast a ballot how they can do so for Biden. 

The group’s “voter protection club,” made up of volunteers, is tasked with speaking with the Secretary of State to make sure the guidance they are giving voters on how to write in the incumbent president’s name is correct and will get counted. 

Norelli emphasized there is no involvement from the DNC or Biden’s reelection campaign. The group is working with a budget of around $50,000 to $70,000, which Norelli said is “primarily, it's for signs and stickers and things like that,” adding the group has hired a couple of staff members. 

This month, Politico reported on a separate super PAC seeking to raise funds to promote Biden as a write-in candidate. 

Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee approved a new 2024 primary calendar that shook up the order of the party’s nominating contests. The new lineup placed South Carolina in the number one spot and stripped New Hampshire of its long-held title as the first primary in the nation — a move intended to put more weight on diversity. South Carolina was crucial to Biden securing the Democratic nomination in 2020. 

But local New Hampshire officials bucked the new plan, pointing to state law requiring it to hold the nation’s first opening primary contest.

And last month, the Granite state announced it would send voters to the polls for the 2024 primary on Jan. 23 — more than a week before Democrats’ Feb. 3 date for South Carolina, thus putting it out of compliance with the DNC’s new lineup. The move could lead to sanctions and the potential loss of delegates to the 2024 Democratic convention, according to DNC delegate selection rules. 

The president’s 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez told the New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley that Biden is “obligated to comply” with party rules and thus Biden did not file for his name to appear on New Hampshire’s 2024 Democratic primary ballot. 

In contrast, one of Biden’s Democratic challengers, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, officially announced his bid for the White House while filing for the New Hampshire primary in October. The Democratic congressman has traveled the state this month campaigning. 

A representative from his campaign noted that while they are focusing on Phillips’ own positive message and building out the effort on the ground as they would any other state, they aren’t ignoring the fact that Biden won’t be on the ballot. 

In the end, Norelli said all of this to her is about making sure “Biden supporters know that their vote matters.”

“People who maybe don't care about the DNC but they do care that we have the first primary and they do intend to get out there and vote and say: ‘Yes, we have the first primary and I'm going to vote in it and I want to vote for the person that I want to vote for — whether that person is on the ballot or not,’” she said.