Written by Anthony Constantini
What’s happening: Joe Biden won the Democrat New Hampshire primary against Representative Dean Philips and author Marianne Williamson. But Biden was not on the ballot and won via write-ins because the primary was not sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
- Catch up: The DNC sanctioned South Carolina’s primary as the official first primary in order to, it claims, diversify the nomination process. But New Hampshire has a history of bucking front-runners. By avoiding a campaign there, Biden’s team may have sought to avoid a potential embarrassment.
Why it matters: This is the latest example of Democrat elites working to help favorite candidates. In the last three presidential nomination contests, insiders aided their preferred nominees and suppressed insurgent candidates.
2016: Emails revealed that DNC staffers not only held anti-Bernie Sanders views but that they also secretly agreed to fundraise with Hillary Clinton a year before she won the nomination. In addition, Clinton clinched the win via party insiders known as “superdelegates” who can support whichever candidate they want.
2020: Biden won South Carolina with establishment Representative Jim Clyburn’s endorsement. Then, high-powered Democrats, including Barack Obama, convinced unpopular candidates like Pete Buttigieg to drop out of the race and endorse Biden before Super Tuesday, winnowing the field and helping Biden beat Sanders.
2024: While the failure of any major challenger to emerge against a weak president is a historical rarity, state parties in Florida and New Hampshire have refused to put Philips and other primary challengers on their 2024 ballots. This is not unheard of; the GOP acted similarly in 2020.
What’s next: Now that Biden has won New Hampshire and is likely to win South Carolina, Philips has essentially no path forward.