Facing DNC sanction, New Hampshire Dems vow to write-in Biden’s name next year anyway

New Hampshire Democrats are furious about a plan from the Democratic National Committee — one that could take another formal step forward Thursday — that would effectively relegate the state’s nominating contest to a symbolic event in which President Joe Biden’s name might not even appear on the ballot.

They’re planning to rally support for Biden anyway.

Despite deep frustrations about losing their traditional place as as the first-in-the-nation primary, a loose collection of Granite State Democrats is moving ahead with an effort to persuade rank-and-file New Hampshire voters to vote for Biden during next year’s contest, even if they have to physically write in the president’s name on the ballot.

The unorthodox attempt — which would only become necessary if, as expected, New Hampshire’s Democratic leadership continues to buck the DNC and is sanctioned for setting its primary ahead of schedule — is still informal and in the early stages, Democrats caution. But many of them remain confident that it can succeed even in the face of the perception that the president has snubbed their state.

“The state party as an entity won’t be getting involved, but that doesn’t mean the grassroots network won’t be very much engaged,” said Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. “We get requests for yard signs, we’re getting requests a lot for people who want to express their support for the president.

“I don’t think there will be any shortage of educational efforts and organization to get the word out, if that’s the course that the president decides,” Buckley added.

The write-in effort is driven in part by concerns that the primary, even if sanctioned by the DNC, could be perceived as a harmful setback to the sitting president should he lose the race to a longshot challenger like Robert Kennedy Jr.. The son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy has campaigned frequently in the state and raised millions of dollars for his candidacy even as he has drawn criticism for his long-held skepticism of vaccines and other positions at odds with most Democrats.

A loss to a longshot like Kennedy — or even a narrow victory — could fuel concerns that Biden doesn’t have the backing of a unified Democratic Party as he seeks reelection, New Hampshire Democrats say, even if the challenger poses little threat of actually winning the party’s nomination.

“It’s hard work. It’s very hard work,” said Kathy Sullivan, a former Democratic Party chair in New Hampshire who is encouraging the write-in campaign. “But I think it has to be done. Otherwise I think the president is going to be embarrassed.”

Sullivan said that she was angry at the DNC’s expected decision to strip New Hampshire of delegates and punish candidates who campaign in the state, but added that she is still committed to helping re-elect him in 2024.

“I’d be really mad if I woke up in 2024 and Joe Biden hasn’t been reelected,” she said. “This is important. We gotta make sure he’s elected, and an embarrassing finish in New Hampshire doesn’t help that effort.”

New calendar

The standoff between New Hampshire Democrats and the DNC stems from the national committee’s decision, made at Biden’s behest last year, to rearrange the traditional order of the party’s presidential nominating contest, in part to give voters of color greater influence over the process. In 2020, Iowa’s caucuses were the first nominating contest of the Democratic presidential primary, followed by New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, respectively.

The revised schedule dictated that South Carolina would hold the first contest, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada, which would hold their primaries on the same day. Iowa, whose caucus had long kicked off the nominating contest, would be removed as an early state entirely.

But New Hampshire Democrats have said that state law mandates they hold the nation’s first primary and balked at the suggestion that the party could hold its own primary separate from the state, a contest they argue would be too expensive and logistically difficult.

The DNC earlier this year approved of the new calendar. On Thursday, the DNC’s Rules & Bylaws Committee will consider delegate-selection plans from several states submitted in light of the new calendar, including New Hampshire, after previously granting the Granite State an extension in June to comply with party rules.

Whether committee members will vote formally to sanction New Hampshire on Thursday is unknown; the group could grant the state another extension.

In an interview, however, Buckley said state Democrats have not deviated from their proposal to comply with state law and hold a primary before South Carolina. And most Democrats in the DNC and in New Hampshire expect that the state will eventually be sanctioned and be stripped of half of its delegates at next year’s Democratic National Convention, when the party’s nominee will formally be chosen. Party rules also stipulate that any candidate who campaigns in a non-compliant state, including putting his or her name on the ballot, would not receive any delegates from the state.

Dennis Kucinich, Kennedy’s campaign manager, criticized the attempted write-in effort on Biden’s behalf, saying the president should have the confidence to put his name on the ballot regardless of the DNC’s decision.

“The president of the United States is so afraid of New Hampshire votes that he can’t put his name on the ballot but will try to come in through the backdoor with a write-in campaign,” Kucinich said. “It’s risible, really.”

Kennedy is campaigning regularly in the state: Kucinich says he’s made close to 20 appearances there this year.

The write-in campaign

Democrats like Sullivan insist that Biden has nothing to do with the write-in effort; in fact, they say they would turn down any assistance from the president’s campaign or the DNC, citing their continuing anger at the decision to rearrange the primary calendar.

Write-in campaigns occur only rarely and with only occasional success, given that it requires voters to take an unusual extra step when casting their ballot. In 2010, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska successfully completed a write-in effort after losing in her party’s primary earlier that year, even running a TV ad instructing people how to spell her name on the ballot.

Granite State Democrats say they doubt a write-in campaign in New Hampshire would ever include something as expensive as TV ads, saying instead it will likely include less formal efforts like talking to their neighbors, posting on social media, or writing op-eds in the newspaper.

Such an effort could “mean people making signs saying, ‘Write in Joe Biden,’ standing outside the polls,” Sullivan said. “It’s possible that would happen.”

New Hampshire Democrats took heart in a July survey that showed Biden winning 70% support from the state’s Democratic voters, Kennedy receiving 10% support and another challenger, Marianne Williamson, receiving the backing of 4% of Democrats.

One Democratic leader in New Hampshire, former gubernatorial nominee Colin Van Ostern, said in an interview he expects the effort to be so successful that Biden will receive more votes in 2024 than the roughly 49,000 former President Barack Obama did during the non-competitive 2012 Democratic primary in the state.

“I am very confident more people are going to show up and vote for Joe Biden in January in the New Hampshire primary than those who voted for Barack Obama 12 years ago when he was president,” Van Ostern said. “I would place a very large bet with good odds on that.”

Voting in New Hampshire is a civic duty, he said, and he expects voters to turn out regardless of whether Biden is on the ballot.

“No one’s going to tell voters not to vote, and a lot of us support the president and plan to vote for him,” Van Ostern said. “So it’s sort of the natural course that there would be tens of thousands of voters for Joe Biden if he’s not on the ballot.”