Biden Will Not Submit Candidacy For New Hampshire’s Democratic Primary, Campaign Confirms

President Joe Biden is breaking with tradition and has no plans to file to be on the Democratic primary ballot in New Hampshire in 2024, his campaign has confirmed.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, President Biden’s campaign manager, announced his intentions in a letter to Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, in a letter dated Oct. 24.

President Biden’s decision to skip the 2024 primary ballot in the state will make him the first sitting president to do so since President Lyndon B. Johnson didn’t file for the state’s primary in 1968, although he later won via write-in.

In her letter, Ms. Rodriguez said President Biden must comply with national party rules after the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Rules & Bylaws Committee on Oct. 24 issued guidance urging Democratic campaigns to refrain from filing candidates to be on the primary ballot in New Hampshire.

The DNC also published a plan earlier this year revising the half-century-old schedule for presidential primaries next year; making South Carolina the first voting state, and replacing Iowa, which has historically been the first state in the Democrats’ presidential nominating process.

President Biden had proposed the new schedule in December, citing the need to “ensure that voters of color have a voice in choosing our nominee much earlier in the process and throughout the entire early window.”

“While the president wishes to participate in the Primary, he is obligated as a Democratic candidate for President to comply with the Delegate Selection Rules for the 2024 Democratic National Convention promulgated by the Democratic National Committee,” Ms. Rodriguez wrote in her letter.

“In accordance with this guidance, Biden for President will refrain from submitting a Declaration of Candidacy for the Primary ahead of Friday’s candidate filing deadline for the Primary,” his campaign manager wrote.

Ms. Rodriguez, however, stressed in the letter that the decision was only for the primary and not the general election, adding that the president “looks forward to having his name on New Hampshire’s general election ballot as the nominee of the Democratic Party after officially securing the nomination at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Mr. Buckley responded to President Biden’s reported decision in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday.

“The reality is that Joe Biden will win the NH FITN [New Hampshire First in the Nation] Primary in January, win renomination in Chicago, and will be re-elected next November,” Mr. Buckley wrote.

“NH voters know and trust Joe Biden that’s why he is leading Trump in NH by double digits,” he added.

However, not everyone welcomed the announcement.

In a statement on X, the New Hampshire Republican Party declared: “Joe Biden doesn’t care about the granite state, our traditions, or our voters.”

The party, in a follow-up statement, added that while “Republican candidates are flooding to New Hampshire to prove that they will fight for the Granite State,” President Biden’s “snub” of the state’s primary “made a very loud statement,” suggesting he “does not care about the people of New Hampshire.”

Under the DNC’s newly approved schedule, South Carolina will hold its primary on Feb. 3, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada, who will jointly hold their primaries second on Feb. 6, then Georgia on Feb. 13 and Michigan on Feb. 27.

However, that guidance runs contrary to New Hampshire law, which requires the state to hold the United States’ first primary in an election year—and state officials have vowed to hold the primary before South Carolina does regardless of the consequences, although the state is yet to set a formal date.

The latest announcement comes as former President Donald Trump continues to hold a lead over to President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 general election match-up, various polls show.