For almost 50 years, state law has dictated that New Hampshire hold the first presidential primary in the country. But under a proposal backed unanimously by the state Senate Thursday, voters in 2024 could be asked to take it a step further and enshrine New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status in the state constitution.
The proposal, which one senator called a “belt and suspenders” approach to protecting New Hampshire’s presidential primary, comes as the Democratic National Committee is poised to put South Carolina at the head of the nominating queue. That plan has the blessing of President Biden, who revived his own campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a win in South Carolina in 2020.
Party leaders argue South Carolina, where Black voters dominate the Democratic electorate, is more reflective of the national Democratic Party than New Hampshire, where the population, while increasingly diverse, remains overwhelmingly white.
“There’s absolutely no justification to take this from our state, and we should keep that tradition going and give that right to the people, and that’s what we are doing.” Sen. Darryl Abbas of Salem, the proposal’s lead sponsor, said shortly before the 23-0 vote in the state Senate Thursday. “Let’s put this on the ballot and let the people fight for this.”
Under the proposed amendment, language that mirrors current state law dictating the scheduling of presidential primary would be inserted into the constitution.
The amendment reads: “The secretary of state shall ensure that the presidential primary election be held seven or more days immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election."
The proposal is the Senate leadership’s response to the DNC-backed calendar change. Under the DNC proposal, which is expected to be finalized this summer, New Hampshire could still vote second in the primary calendar, on the same day as Nevada.
State leaders across the partisan divide — from Gov. Chris Sununu to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen to Secretary of State David Scanlan — have all cited New Hampshire’s state law on the primary and promised it will be followed regardless of what the DNC — or any state hoping to leapfrog New Hampshire — might do.
The state Senate’s top Democrat, Donna Soucy, fought the new calendar when the DNC’s Rules Committee approved it earlier this year. Soucy told colleagues Thursday she wasn’t sure this amendment was legally necessary, but wanted to make sure her bottom-line stance was clear.
“I want to clarify that no national party, any national party, is going to take away our primary. I think the voters need to understand that,” Soucy said. “It’s our primary. We are going to have it.”
To make it into the constitution, this proposal will need to win three-fifths support in the New Hampshire House and two-thirds support from voters in 2024.
