By Brent Whelan
Presidential primaries in New Hampshire, the land of “Live Free or Die”, have always been prone to surprises, and 2024 was no exception. Not on the Republican side, where a former president showed up to collect his trophy, but on the Democratic Party ballot, where President Biden was not even included (even though he’s the incumbent).
The Stakes in New Hampshire
A brief recap: Democratic National Committee (DNC) and New Hampshire Democratic party officials disagreed over which state would hold the first primary in the nation. New Hampshire planned to go first, as it usually does, whereas the DNC considered South Carolina the first official primary. In response, President Biden agreed to sidestep the quarrel by keeping his name off the official ballot.
But that tactic came with a problem: With Biden not being on the ballot, it could appear (incorrectly) like he lost to a challenger. Strategists could easily see how the press could turn Biden’s absence on the primary ballot into a cycle of negative news stories.
The solution?
A group of President Biden supporters in New Hampshire (and surrounding states) decided to organize their own Granite State Write-in Campaign to encourage primary voters to write in his name and thus demonstrate their no-one-can-stop-us support for the incumbent.
Their effort brought its own headaches, starting with the timing: a few months is no time at all to put together a conventional campaign, much less a write-in one that requires voter education. Then comes getting out the necessary instructions on how to cast a write-in vote, and how to lure Independents away from the noise on the Republican side – and all this without a live candidate to show up on the evening news.
As the January 23rd primary approached, strategists at Swing Blue Alliance saw these challenges as an opportunity to mobilize its ready-to-go organizers and display the depth of Biden’s support. Swing Blue designed a postcard with essential instructions for obtaining a Democratic write-in ballot from election workers at the polls and writing in Joe Biden’s name.
And we delivered: Swing Blue volunteers mailed 27,000 of these cards to New Hampshire Democrats in the weeks leading up to primary day.
The New Hampshire Primary Write-In Campaign for President Biden
This Swing Blue campaign fit neatly within the AIM HI goals that Swing Blue uses to direct its work (e.g., all efforts we undertake must be Additive, Important, Measurable, Helpful, and Impactful).
Specifically:
- The postcard campaign was intended to Add to an existing local campaign.
- Its goal was Important: a starting gun for Biden’s national campaign.
- It will be Measured when our research team completes their analysis.
- We Helped a neighboring state with their uphill battle.
- And our results were Impactful, as Biden’s win and a pile of favorable press makes clear.
When the primary ballots were counted, Biden collected more than 77,000 write-in votes which represented 64% of Democratic votes cast – a landslide! Despite the learning curve of the write-in process, New Hampshire Democratic voters really delivered: Biden’s total was greater than either Barack Obama’s or Bill Clinton’s totals in their own reelection campaigns using the far simpler machine balloting.
In short, President Biden scored a major victory and gained a burst of momentum at the outset of his national campaign. Perhaps the best testimonial to the campaign’s success came from the candidate himself on election night when he called the write-in campaign “a historic demonstration of commitment to the democratic process.”
Looking Ahead to November…
Swing Blue Alliance now looks forward to building on this victory. Between now and the fall election there will be many opportunities to weigh in and build support for President Biden. In 2024, Swing Blue will focus its efforts on five states: Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
If you’re interested in helping, a good place to start would be to subscribe to the volunteer newsletter. Another would be to visit the Postcarding Host Center to join a campaign.
New Hampshire showed us what can happen when dedicated volunteers pool their talents. Now we need to do it again and again. The fight to preserve our democracy is just beginning. Let’s get to work!
Brent Whelan is a retired teacher, a climate activist, and writer of postcards to swing state voters. He lives in Allston, MA.