New Hampshire Democrats are urging President Biden not to change the party’s primary schedule, saying the proposed changes will “wreak havoc” in the state.
Two former US lawmakers, a former governor and more than a dozen New Hampshire Democrats are among the signatories to a letter, first reported by Politico, emailed to the White House arguing that moving New Hampshire from its place as the first in the nation’s primary would jeopardize party members on next year’s ballot.
“While we share your desire to raise more diverse voices in the process, we believe the proposed timeline could wreak havoc with Democrats at all levels in New Hampshire and needlessly jeopardize four critical electoral votes in your re-election campaign.” read. the letter, dated Tuesday.
The Democratic National Committee voted last month to make South Carolina the first state to cast votes in the primary lineup, ousting New Hampshire from its top spot and eliminating Iowa as the first caucus state.
The Biden-backed plan aims to increase diversity in the presidential nominating system by moving more diverse states earlier on the timeline.
The proposal has angered Democrats in the state. Last month, New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Maggie Hassan (D) skipped a congressional ball at the White House over the proposal.
State Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley has said it would be difficult for the state to comply with the DNC’s plans anyway, since the Democrats’ request to change the primary schedule would go before the Republican governor of New Hampshire and the majority state house of the Republican Party.
The letter says the plan puts New Hampshire Democrats in a “no-win position” and makes the party vulnerable to Republican power in the state.
“New Hampshire Republicans have begun using this move to attack New Hampshire Democrats, an attack they are already capitalizing on in the 2024 election cycle, when everything will be at stake, from the state legislature and the governorship to the two congressional seats and the battlefield presidency. ”, The letter says, adding to Biden that“ we are especially concerned about how this will affect his re-election ”.
State Democrats argue that the change could allow Republicans to “out-organize” Democrats in the state and could mean Biden loses the first primary held in 2024, creating “an unnecessary distraction” from the president’s re-election campaign. . Biden has yet to officially declare his candidacy for 2024.
Former New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, former US Representatives Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter, former New Hampshire Chief Justice John Broderick, Jr., and former US Ambassador Edward Shumaker III are among the signatories to the letter.
