MANCHESTER, N.H. – As results trickle in on Tuesday night, New Hampshire supporters of President Joe Biden gathered at the Puritan Conference Center to celebrate and prepare, no matter what anybody else says.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) chose South Carolina as the first Presidential Primary in its nominating calendar, indicating that New Hampshire’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention would not be seated if New Hampshire did not change its laws requiring its Presidential Primary to be the country’s first.
While the law did not change the DNC attempted to interfere in New Hampshire as recently as this month, leading to a response from the New Hampshire Attorney General.
Although the sanctions drew boos when former State Senator Melanie Levesque (D-Brookline) mentioned their name at the event, the assembled crowd cheered at Levesque’s defiance in the fact that New Hampshire Democrats did not need permission to support Biden’s re-election campaign.
“You all know the DNC chose to take Joe Biden’s name off the ballot and they thought that would be the end of it,” “No, not in New Hampshire. We do things the New Hampshire way. We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off and we rally just like we did for the past several months and like we did today.”
Levesque was proud of the energy in the room and exhorted the assembled crowd to retain that energy moving forward toward November’s General Election.
“I’m really excited to be in this room with all of you because I know how hard we all work, we all work with the same purpose,” she said. “We have a common cause and that’s to see Joe Biden re-elected.”
Others shared similar sentiments during the event.
“In our country and around the world, we are showing how democracy is done,” said State Senator and Democratic State Senate Leader Donna Soucy (D-Manchester). “This is truly a grassroots effort. I see people in this room who have been at this for quite a while. It was a really small group in the beginning, but what’s so remarkable about the State of New Hampshire is how much (this effort) grew, how much people took ownership in the campaign and wanted to show support for President Biden and Vice President (Kamala) Harris, how energized people were and how New Hampshire people just love campaigns.”
“Together we sent a clear message, we’re going to fight for our democracy, we’re going to fight for our freedoms and we’re going to fight for Joe Biden in November,” said State Representative and Democratic House Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester). “This grassroots effort is democracy in its purest form. Civic engagement is what New Hampshire is known for. It’s what we take pride in and it’s no surprise when our rights are on the line: we stand up and fight.”
“I think it’s very exciting. This was a grassroots effort by so many people and it just shows what was at stake,” said former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig. “We want to make sure that we are re-electing President Biden to protect reproductive freedom and to protect democracy and the results tonight show that he’s on a great path to win in November.”
Biden later released a statement where he thanked those who wrote his name in.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley released the following statement on the New Hampshire Democratic Primary.
“Tonight, Granite Staters delivered an overwhelming victory for President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary — all thanks to the hundreds of grassroots organizers who successfully coordinated an historic write-in campaign that mobilized tens of thousands of voters across New Hampshire. Despite President Biden’s absence from the ballot, Granite Staters still turned out in robust numbers to show their support for the great work that the Biden-Harris Administration has done to grow the economy, protect reproductive freedoms, and defend our democracy. Once again, New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary made history — and we are proud as ever.
“While Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson came up short tonight, we appreciate their robust campaign effort and thank them for running. New Hampshire Democrats pride ourselves with our commitment to a level playing field that gives all candidates the opportunity to get out their message.
“Granite Staters know the stakes of this election: our freedoms and democracy on the ballot. As we turn our focus to the general election, it is abundantly clear New Hampshire Democrats are excited to re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris, elect a Democratic governor, and flip the State Legislature blue. On to victory in November!”