The Democratic National Committee voted Tuesday to reinstate New Hampshire’s delegates ahead of this summer’s convention in Chicago, ending months of fighting over the state’s 2024 presidential primary.
New Hampshire, which has a state law on the books requiring it to hold the first presidential primary, had refused to comply with a new Democratic calendar that moved South Carolina to the front of the line. As a result, President Joe Biden did not file to appear on the ballot for New Hampshire’s unsanctioned Jan. 23 primary, which took place more than a week before South Carolina’s contest. Biden still won New Hampshire with approximately 64% of the vote through a write-in campaign.
When Biden visited New Hampshire in March to open his first coordinated campaign office in the state, he told supporters that, without getting ahead of the DNC’s process, he expected New Hampshire’s delegates to count, according to two people in the room.
Before the New Hampshire Democratic Party held a delegate selection meeting on Saturday, they invited members to participate in a party-run primary where Biden was the only candidate on the ballot. Two dozen people participated in this vote, which the DNC viewed as a sanctioned primary affirming New Hampshire’s right to their delegates in this summer’s convention, according to a source familiar with the process.
“New Hampshire is delighted to express our support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in Chicago,” New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Ray Buckley told NBC News. “We are extraordinarily proud of the diverse and perhaps history makingdelegates that have been selected to represent us.”
Buckley said many of the delegates being sent to Chicago from New Hampshire are under the age of 36 and that some identify as LGBTQ.
When asked about the chaos surrounding the order of the Democratic primaries this cycle, Buckley said the party was ready to move on.
“We prefer looking forward to the general election where we’re going to reelect Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, a Democratic governor [in New Hampshire], both congressional seats and majorities in the statehouse,” Buckley said. “We are so over this.”
Buckley added that New Hampshire retaining its first-in-the nation primary status in 2028 will “be a worry after the election.”
“We have got to save democracy first,” he said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
