The early results show that, despite the challenges of a write-in campaign, the president maintained a comfortable lead over the 21 candidates.
MANCHESTER, N.H.—President Joe Biden is expected to win Tuesday’s mostly symbolic Democratic primary in New Hampshire, thanks to write-in votes from his supporters. The president refused to campaign in the Granite State or appear on the state’s ballot.
Early results indicate that, despite the challenges of a write-in campaign, President Biden maintained a comfortable lead over the 21 candidates whose names appeared on the ballot, including Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and author Marianne Williamson, who’s running for the nomination for the second time.
The New Hampshire primary was unusual in that the incumbent president was not on the ballot this year. Since 1920, New Hampshire has hosted the nation’s first primary election. National Democrats, however, changed the rules to reverse this tradition by having South Carolina lead the party’s primary season calendar and calling today’s primary “meaningless.”
Regardless, some New Hampshire Democrats launched a write-in campaign for President Biden, urging voters to put his name on the ballot. Despite these efforts, observers note that voter turnout among Democrats in New Hampshire was low this year, highlighting the recent conflict between state and national Democrats.
Mr. Phillips, a 54-year-old three-term congressman, announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in October last year. He hoped to have strong results in New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday by appealing to large independent voting base and make the case that the Democrats need a better candidate to defeat former President Donald Trump.
He earned endorsements from prominent figures such as former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, who recently donated $1 million to the congressman’s campaign.
Ophelia Burnett a voter from Manchester, N.H., who describes herself as independent, changed her vote from Nikki Haley to Dean Phillips after hearing the congressman’s speech at a campaign event.
Ms. Burnett, who voted for Joe Biden in 2020, says the president should step aside.
“I think he has to come to terms with his age. And I feel like someone who’s going to be running our country should be a little bit more fit and just be more aware of things that are going on,” she told The Epoch Times.
By Emel Akan
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