Write-in win shows huge enthusiasm for Biden in NH as Trump wraps up primary

Democrats celebrated a major win for incumbent President Joe Biden in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary while Republicans effectively ended their party’s contest Tuesday night amid one of the most unusual election contests ever seen in the Granite State.

In total, Biden won nearly 70% of the vote in the state.

President Biden weighed in on the result of the contest despite long-running contention over the order of the primary calendar with the state. He acknowledged that the primary was effectively finished after Tuesday night.

“It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher. Our Democracy. Our personal freedoms — from the right to choose to the right to vote. Our economy — which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since COVID. All are at stake,” President Biden said.

He also thanked supporters in the state for writing in his name, calling the write-in effort “a historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process.”

Kathy Sullivan, co-founder of the write-in effort and former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said with Nikki Haley’s defeat and President Biden’s win, the New Hampshire primary effectively ended the 2024 primary season.

“Joe Biden will be the nominee, no question about it,” she said. “I think this is a really good send off to Joe Biden for the general election, which is really starting tomorrow. I think it shows that there’s a lot of energy and excitement out there for Joe Biden.”

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Even with the added challenge of having to write in the candidates name, turnout was high, with Biden exceeding Barack Obama’s 2012 primary turnout record. The write-in campaign easily toppled other Democratic primary challengers who were on the ballot, including Dean Phillips, who only earned around 20% of the primary vote.

New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Raymond Buckley said Donald Trump’s primary win over Nikki Haley by 11 points confirmed the GOP’s commitment to a form of extreme politics that does not resonate in the state.

“Tonight confirmed what Granite Staters have known for months: the Republican Party is all in on the extreme MAGA agenda. Every time he set foot in New Hampshire, Donald Trump doubled down on his plans to ban abortion nationwide, give handouts to the ultra-rich and big corporations while leaving working families behind, and undermine our democracy. Trump is running on the same unpopular MAGA agenda that caused him to lose New Hampshire twice,” Buckley said.

Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy and House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm issued statements after the Biden win on behalf of the Write-In effort.

“Tonight, we sent a message loud and clear that New Hampshire strongly stands behind Joe Biden and the progress he is making for our country,” said Soucy.

“This wasn’t easy. But no matter what was thrown our way, this mighty team of volunteers rallied and we mobilized to deliver an overwhelming win for President Joe Biden in New Hampshire – with almost twice as many Democrats voting in the primary compared to 2012. Tonight, we celebrate. But then, tomorrow, we get up and we fight on because this is far from over and the stakes could not be higher in this general election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.” said Wilhelm.

In his victory speech, Trump attacked New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who campaigned closely with Haley across the state after giving her his endorsement, saying Sununu was “on something” and hitting him for raising expectations for Haley’s performance above what was possible.

“You have the now very unpopular governor of this state,” Trump said. “I’m watching this guy and two weeks ago said, we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win in a landslide.”