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. The January New Hampshire primary was not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee (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 initially stripped all 33 of the state's delegates that would have been allocated to the Democratic National Convention. The delegates will be allowed to be seated at the convention following the holding of a party-backed firehouse primary on April 27.
Although running for a second term, incumbent President Joe Biden declined to appear on the January 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 63% of the vote. Philips also won a significant number of votes, winning over 19% of the vote.
Controversies.
Scheduling.
Joe Biden sent a letter on December 1, 2022, to the "rule-making arm" of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), requesting that "diversity" should be emphasized in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries, 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 to hold its race first on February 3, followed by Nevada 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" reported that "there was little reason to expect a friendly resolution", since Republican New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan 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" 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 and Michigan 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 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.
The party ran a firehouse primary on April 27 to gain back their 24 delegates in which 24 delegates voted and Biden was the only candidate on the ballot. All delegates will be allowed to be seated at the national convention following a vote by the DNC's "rulemaking arm" on April 30.
AI robocall.
NBC News reported on January 22, 2024, that the New Hampshire attorney general's office was investigating AI-generated robocalls seemingly from President Joe 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.
Paul Carpenter, a magician and hypnotist from Houston, Texas, who was visiting New Orleans at the time as a freelance AI consultant and marketing expert, reportedly provided crucial information to the government and FBI, leading to the conviction related to these robocalls. Carpenter cooperated with the Sisters of America and other authorities during the investigation, playing a key role in uncovering the responsible parties behind the AI-generated robocalls.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced on February 6, 2024, that the robocalls had been traced to Texas-based Life Corporation and Lingo Telecom, after an investigation by the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force, the Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau, and other state and federal agencies. Steve Kramer, a Democratic operative, was identified as the individual behind the calls and was subsequently indicted. The FCC finalized a $6 million fine against Kramer for using deepfake AI technology and caller ID spoofing to impersonate President Biden. Kramer, who had been working as a consultant for the presidential campaign of Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has 30 days to pay the fine or face further legal action from the Department of Justice. In mid-March, the League of Women Voters 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.
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Write-in campaigns.
In addition to the candidates who made the ballot, several candidates ran write-in campaigns.
Incumbent President 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 defied the DNC's calendar and scheduled its race before South Carolina's. In October 2023, the manager for the Biden campaign, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, confirmed in a letter to the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party Raymond Buckley 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 and Carol Shea-Porter, 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 launched a write-in campaign for "ceasefire". New Hampshire secretary of state David Scanlan 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 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Bernie Sanders 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. Nikki Haley received 4,695 write-in votes. Donald Trump received 2,055 write-in votes. 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.
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Joe Biden "(write-in)"
U.S. Senators
U.S. Representatives
; Former
* Paul Hodes, U.S. Representative from (2007–2011)
* Carol Shea-Porter, U.S. Representative from (2007–2011, 2013–2015, 2017–2019)
State executive officials
;Former
* Dudley Dudley, member of the New Hampshire Executive Council (1976–1983), political activist
* Colin Van Ostern, member of the New Hampshire Executive Council (2013–2017), businessman
State legislators
; Former
* Martha Fuller Clark, President Pro Tempore of the New Hampshire State Senate (2018–2020), New Hampshire State Senate District 21 (2012–2020), New Hampshire State Senate District 24 (2004–2010)
* Sylvia Larsen, President of the New Hampshire State Senate, (2006–2010), New Hampshire State Senate District 15 (1994–2014)
* Terie Norelli, Former Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, (2006–2010), (2012–2014)
* Caroletta Alicea, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Merrimack District 8 (2020–2022)
* Christy Bartlett, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Merrimack District 19 (2012–2022)
* Paul Berch, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Cheshire District 1 (2012–2022)
* Skip Berrien, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Rockingham District 18 (2014–2020)
* Peter Burling, New Hampshire State Senate
* Ed Butler, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Carrol District 7 (2012–2020)
* Tim Butterworth, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Cheshire District 4 (2006–2010)
* Jackie Cilley, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Strafford District 4 (2014–2018), New Hampshire State Senate from District 6 (2007–2010)
* David Cote, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 3 (1982–2023)
*Manny Espita, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 31 (2018–2022)
*Susan Ford, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Grafton District 3 (2018–2020)
*Molly Kelly, New Hampshire State Senate from District 10 (2006–2016)
*Bette Laskey, New Hampshire State Senate from District 13 (2008–2010, 2012–2018), New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 26 (1998–2008) 
*Melanie Levesque, New Hampshire State Senate from District 12 (2018–2020), New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 26 (2012–2014), New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 5 (2006–2010 
*Liz McConnell, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Rockingham District 11 (2018–2020)
*Patricia McMahon, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Merrimack District 3 (2004–2010)
*Richard McNamara, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 38 (2012–2018)
*Mindi Messmer, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Rockingham District 24 (2016–2018)
*Jon Morgan, New Hampshire State Senate from District 23 (2018–2020)
*Sue Mullen, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 7 (2018–2022)
*William Pearson, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Cheshire District 16 (2016–2020)
*Jay Phinizy, New Hampshire House of Representatives (1998–2008)
*Marjorie Porter, New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 1 (2010–2022)
*Tom Sherman, New Hampshire State Senate District 24 (2018–2022), New Hampshire House of Representatives from Hillsborough District 11 (2012–2016)
*Jackie Weatherspoon, New Hampshire House of Representatives
Local officials
;Former
*Joyce Craig, Mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire (2017–2024), candidate for governor in 2024
*Steve Marchand, Mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire (2006–2008)
Party officials
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Dean Phillips
State legislators
;Former
* Tom Schamberg, New Hampshire state representative from the 4th district, Merrimack (2012–2014, 2018–present)
* Steve Shurtleff, New Hampshire state representative from the 11th district, Merrimack (2004–present) and former speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives (2018–2020)
Newspapers
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Marianne Williamson
State legislators
;Former
* Tony Labranche, former Democratic New Hampshire State Representative from the 22nd district, Hillsborough (2020–2022) "(Independent)"
* Robin Vogt, former New Hampshire State Representative from Rockingham-21 (2022–2023)
Local officials
Party officials
 ;templatestyles src="Endorsements box/styles.css"/ ;Ceasefire "(write-in)"
State executive officials
Polling.
Hypothetical polling.
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Hidden begin/styles.css"/ ;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).
No delegates were awarded from the January New Hampshire primary.
References.
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