Dems set to (again) take a pass on deciding fate of New Hampshire’s primary

National Democrats are poised to punt yet again on deciding what to do about New Hampshire’s fraught 2024 primary when they meet this week to discuss the party’s nomination calendar.

A top panel on the Democratic National Committee is expected to vote Thursday on a plan to give New Hampshire more time to comply with the national party’s demand that it hold its presidential primary after South Carolina’s contest in early February, according to a person familiar with the proposal.

That would mark the third time this year that the DNC has pushed back the state’s deadline to make progress on adhering to the new primary calendar or get kicked out of the official early voting lineup altogether. President Joe Biden previously pushed for changes that stripped New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary and gave South Carolina the prized No. 1 spot.

The anticipated proposal to give New Hampshire more time appears likely to be OK'd. Several members of the DNC’s rules and bylaws committee, the panel that will consider the extension, told POLITICO they would probably approve or were at least open to such a plan.

Jim Roosevelt, co-chair of the committee, said the panel would be “likely” to grant another extension “because everyone wants to find a way to get New Hampshire in compliance.”

Leah Daughtry, a member of the committee, said “I’m always willing to give states extensions if they ask for them, so I'd be supportive of that.”

The DNC had given New Hampshire a deadline of June 3 to adhere to the calendar requirements. It then extended that deadline to Sept. 1. If the state ultimately holds an unsanctioned Democratic primary, New Hampshire Democrats risk losing half their delegates to the national party’s nominating convention in 2024 under rules passed last year.

But national and state Democrats have been unable to reach an agreement on when New Hampshire will hold its 2024 primary — and whether it will count — since Biden pushed an overhaul of the nominating calendar last year. The president’s plan, which the DNC approved early this year, elevated South Carolina, a more diverse state that propelled Biden to the nomination in 2020, to the lead-off spot on the calendar and bumped New Hampshire down to second on a shared date with Nevada.

But New Hampshire has a law that states it must hold its primary at least a week before any other similar contest, and Republicans who control state government there refuse to change it. The secretary of state has yet to set the primary date.

There is a risk if Democrats can’t find a solution. Should New Hampshire go first against the wishes of Biden and the DNC, the sitting president might not put his name on the primary ballot there and could potentially cede the unofficial early contest to fringe candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Marianne Williamson. Biden’s primary challengers pose no real challenge to him, but such a scenario could be an embarrassing start to the election for Democrats.

Democrats in the state have spoken about waging a write-in campaign for Biden to prevent an outcome in which someone like Kennedy wins the primary. But no official plans have been set in motion.

Former Democratic state Rep. James Demers said there have been preliminary talks among New Hampshire Democrats about potentially organizing an official write-in effort.

“I can't think of anybody who least represents a New Hampshire Democrat than Robert Kennedy. So I think a lot of activists here feel extremely uncomfortable that he could be the winner of the New Hampshire primary, binding or not binding,” said Demers. “That is another motivation for people who want to stand up for the president and do something.”

To make the ballot, candidates have to submit their paperwork to the New Hampshire secretary of state by Oct. 27.