DNC Votes to Move New Hampshire Presidential Primary

🔴 The vote by the DNC moves New Hampshire's 2024 presidential primary to after South Carolina

🔴 DNC chair Jaime Harrison said the new schedule "looks like America"

🔴 New Hampshire made the case again that the Democratic party can't unilaterally change state law

As the Democratic National Committee voted Saturday to accept a proposal to accept a presidential primary schedule for 2024 that moves New Hampshire to the shared second position, the state party chairman said the battle to keep New Hampshire first is not over.

After meeting in Philadelphia, the schedule was approved, despite New Hampshire not meeting the DNC requirement that the state law mandating the state's presidential primary always be first and an expansion of early voting options. The DNC extended the deadline for New Hampshire and Georgia to June 5.

State party chairman Ray Buckley has told the committee several times that as the minority party in New Hampshire, the changes won't happen, as Republicans are not on board.

"This calendar does what is long overdue. It expands the number of voices in the early window and elevates diverse communities that are the core of the Democratic party. It puts Black voters at the front of the process in South Carolina," DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said before the vote. "It keeps Nevada, where Latinos have been building power by lifting their voices and New Hampshire where we can continue the tradition of small government by and for the people at the front of the process."

Harrison also touted Michigan's move as where unions built the middle class.

"Folks, the Democratic party looks like America, and so does this proposal," Harrison said.

Making the case for New Hampshire

Rules Committee member and Portsmouth resident Joanne Dowdell told the meeting it "broke her heart" to vote against the schedule proposed by President Biden. She reiterated Buckley in that the requirements set by by the DNC cannot be met. She shares the desire for adding more diversity to the primary process.

"When some members say that we are frustrated or that we are attacking them by standing up for New Hampshire, it is frustrating. It is frustrating the DNC is set to punish us despite the fact we don't have the ability to unilaterally change state law."

The state will still hold its primary first, but will likely face punishment from the DNC.

Dowdell said the move will hurt Biden's re-election campaign, and will have unintended consequences.

State Sen. Donna Soucy also explained how Democrats in the legislature have tried but failed to expand voting options.

"We should not be punished in the state of New Hampshire for doing something we cannot accomplish. That punishment will not just be reflected in the number of delegates at a convention, but the number of seats in our legislature," Soucy said.

Don't punish NH

Buckely address the meeting and said the proposal set up the state party for failure and handed Republicans a "substantial weapon."

"There is talk of further sanctions that include withhold essential resources and support that are battleground state needs," Buckley said. " We should all be able to agree this isn't how we do things. It doesn't make sense to punish the state Democratic ticket for something that is out of their control."

"New Hampshire will be going first in 2024

The state will still hold its primary first, according to a tweet from Gov. Chris Sununu. The party will likely face punishment from the DNC.

"Joe Biden and the power brokers at the @DNC in Washington think New Hampshire’s time is up, but it’s not in our DNA to take orders from Washington," Sununu wrote. "New Hampshire will be going first in 2024."

The national Republican party has already scheduled New Hampshire first in its primary schedule.

In a joint statement, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas said the vote is not the final word and that it was New Hampshire residents, not a party committee, that created the first in the nation primary 100 years ago

"New Hampshire adds value to the nominating process, and while President Biden and the DNC continue to push a plan of political convenience, they will not be successful in the end. We will continue to work together as a delegation and with state leaders to protect the primary and make sure New Hampshire’s law is followed," the delegation said. "No matter what party powerbrokers or those in Washington think, New Hampshire will once again host our first-in-the-nation contest as we have done for more than a century.”

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH