New Hampshire Defies Democratic Party, Sets Early Primary Date for 2024
New Hampshire’s secretary of state on Wednesday scheduled the state’s presidential primaries for Jan. 23, 2024, extending its century-old streak of going first despite national Democrats’ efforts to overhaul the nominating calendar.
State law requires New Hampshire’s Republican and Democratic primaries to be held at least seven days before any similar contest and gives the secretary of state sole authority to set the date.
“New Hampshire has a tradition, and New Hampshire has a law, and both the tradition and the law were going to be followed no matter what,” Secretary of State David Scanlan said.
“In today’s society, it seems that we are quick to eliminate traditions and ignore them. But I would like to think that 100 years from now, the people of this country will really be glad that we kept this one.”
Republicans will kick off the nominating process with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15, 2024.
New Hampshire’s primary eight days later will be a crucial opportunity for GOP candidates to show they can remain competitive against former President Donald Trump, the early front-runner for their party’s presidential nomination. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in particular has put New Hampshire at the center of his strategy.
Iowa’s Democrats also will caucus on Jan. 15, 2024, but will not release the presidential results immediately to comply with new party rules sought by President Joe Biden, who has argued that states with a larger minority population should take precedence.
But Scanlan said that using race as “a cudgel” in a bid to rearrange the presidential nominating calendar sets “an ugly precedent.”
“At what point does a state become too old, or too wealthy, or too educated, or too religious to hold an early primary?” he said.
The Democratic National Committee approved a new calendar with a primary in South Carolina on Feb. 3, 2024, followed three days later by Nevada. The schedule also moves Michigan into the group of early states voting before Super Tuesday on March 5, 2024, when most of the rest of the country holds primaries.
There will be 24 Republicans on the ballot in New Hampshire and 21 Democrats.
Biden won’t appear on the New Hampshire ballot and isn’t planning to campaign there, though some of the state’s top Democrats are organizing a write-in campaign backing his re-election bid.
The Republican field has begun to consolidate since former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott dropped out.
Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are vying to emerge as the chief Trump opponent.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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