New Hampshire Democrats face backlash from DNC

By Molly Dougherty, WEBN

The Democratic National Committee wrote a letter to the New Hampshire Democratic Party to criticize the state’s decision to host a presidential primary on Jan. 23.

DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee Co-Chairs Minyon Moore and James Roosevelt Jr. wrote the letter to New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley on January 5. In the letter, they called the state’s primary “meaningless.” Delegates will not be chosen following the primary results. Democratic frontrunner President Joe Biden will not appear on the state’s ballot at the recommendation of the DNC.

New Hampshire has hosted the first presidential primary in the nation since 1920. It’s written into New Hampshire state law. The DNC voted last month to switch the primary schedule and make South Carolina the first voting state. They also voted to remove the Iowa Caucus as the leadoff voting state. President Joe Biden lead the change in an attempt to capture the diversity of Democratic voters.

Chair Buckley attended the New England College Convention just two days after receiving the letter.

“The primary is scheduled and conducted by the state government itself, working with local election officials. So it really doesn’t have anything to do with anybody in Washington. It is a New Hampshire institution, and we will continue to have it,” Buckley said to WEBN reporters.

Buckley spoke to the convention about his role as chair and the attempts the party has made to keep the first primary.

“We are going to follow the state law. We are supporting the first in the nation primary, as we have since it’s inception a hundred years ago, and we’ll continue to do so. We think it was misguided, but as Senator Shaheen said, ‘they didn’t give us the primary, and they’re not taking it away,'” Buckley said.

Buckley joined the state’s Republican Party Chair Chris Ager for the panel. The chairs discussed their joint disapproval of the DNC’s plan.

“It may be the one thing that we work really well together on, is trying to keep this primary first. It benefits the entire state, and I think it’s good for the country,” Ager responded.

The New Hampshire Democratic Party has until January 15 to submit an updated delegate selection plan to the DNC.

WEBN Political Pulse reporter Payton Cavanaugh contributed to this article.