Writing in Joe Biden: New Hampshire Dems stage ‘unprecedented’ primary effort
President Biden’s absence from the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot has triggered a grassroots write-in campaign to ensure the incumbent doesn’t suffer an unprecedented embarrassment on Jan. 23.
The largely volunteer group, Granite State Write-In, has less than three weeks and a minuscule budget of $70,000 to get the word out to Democratic voters to add the 81-year-old’s name to their ballots, a source familiar with the effort tells The Post.
“A write-in campaign like this is unprecedented and it’s very difficult to do,” the person said. “There are definitely challenges. And there’s no question that because [Biden’s] not on the ballot, whatever number he gets at the polls will understate his actual support.”
Biden failed to register for the New Hampshire ballot after the state refused to comply with the Democratic National Committee’s new calendar, which makes South Carolina the first primary contest on Feb. 3.
On its Write-In Biden website, the group blames “misguided DNC rules” for the president’s absence from the ballot and says it is “dedicated to protecting our democracy from MAGA extremism and moving our state and our country forward.”
The write-in effort was launched at the end of October with over 100 grassroots leaders on board, including former state Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan and then-Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.
More than 1,200 people have since signed on to what the source called a “shoestring effort” focused on having Democratic leaders speak at events across New Hampshire to “spread the word.”
On the primary day itself, Granite State Write-in’s priority is ensuring volunteers are placed at polling places to instruct Biden supporters on what to do.
Biden write-in would look like. Granite State Write-In
Polls show Biden is the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination in New Hampshire and across the country, but is facing a greater challenge in the first-in-the-nation primary. According to average polling data from RealClearPolitics, the president has 68.9% support nationwide and 47.3% in New Hampshire.
Given the circumstances, a win for Biden would be a “very impressive thing,” no matter “what the margins are,” the source claimed.
Biden challenger Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) is focusing nearly all of his efforts on New Hampshire in a bid to gain traction for the rest of the 2024 race against the incumbent.
Phillips is polling at an average of 11.7% in New Hampshire, according to RCP. Self-help author Marianne Williamson, the third Democratic challenger, is polling at 8.7%.
The Minnesota Democrat has previously spoken out about Biden’s failure to register for the ballot as evidence of him disrespecting voters.
“A sitting American president chose to not be on the ballot in the first-in-the-nation primary state,” he told The Post in an interview last month. “I think it’s a symptom of a much broader disease, and that is a lack of respect for voters all around the country, including here.”
Phillips may not get any delegates if the DNC chooses to punish New Hampshire for refusing to abide by its calendar rules.
But a large turnout for the congressman — who has built his campaign on arguing that Biden is too old and unpopular to beat former President Donald Trump — could make him a more formidable opponent in other states.
