On Nov. 1, The Rockefeller Center for Public Policy hosted State Party Chairs Chris Ager, R-N.H. and Raymond Buckley, D-N.H. for a conversation about New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. Ager and Buckley sat down with The Dartmouth to discuss the importance of New Hampshire’s primary to national politics, President Joe Biden’s absence from New Hampshire’s Democratic primary and the future of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status.
New Hampshire has held the first presidential primary every election cycle since 1920. How has this tradition shaped the state’s role in national politics?
CA: We have been punching above our weight, so to speak, and it’s shaped the national politics because we can do retail politics here — where a candidate doesn’t have to be a celebrity or have a lot of money to compete. They can get out there and put their ideas out. If their ideas catch on, then they can be propelled forward. We filter the candidates, but we also allow people who don’t have the money or celebrity to have a voice.
RB: I think the impact is seen in the quality of the candidates that do well that in any other state would find it very difficult to be successful. This goes all the way back to John F. Kennedy’s victory here in New Hampshire, in 1960, which really established him as a serious candidate. Then go forward to Jimmy Carter, who would have never been elected without New Hampshire. In fact, Obama did extremely well in New Hampshire. It put him on the map above all the other candidates across the country. I think we have given people the opportunity to be elected president that might not have had that same opportunity in another state.
Do you believe New Hampshire should maintain its status as the first-in-the-nation primary state?
CA: Yes, definitely. This is one thing that we agree on 100%. It definitely works well. New Hampshire didn’t seek out the First Nation primary in 1916. There were multiple people with early primaries, but folks dropped off. They didn’t want to do it, and we were left first. We’ve been very, very good caretakers ever since 1920. So 103 years of successful tradition shouldn’t be changed.
RB: We have a state law that requires the Secretary of State to schedule our primary before any other event, so we will have the First Nation primary; that’s not going anywhere. National parties might decide to not award delegates for the convention, but it has never been about the delegates. It’s really about vetting the candidates and offering our opinion on them. We think that’s a very valuable accomplishment that we provide the country.
New Hampshire has been criticized for lacking the diversity to adequately represent the nation in the first primary. What do you make of this assertion?
RB: We really hear that more on the Democratic side. Is New Hampshire as diverse as some of the other states? Of course not. Are there less diverse states? Yes. But in 2006, we embraced a new calendar that included Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. When you combine those four states together, you did get an accurate reflection of Democratic primary voters, and it worked very well. South Carolina Democrats never asked to be the first primary because, by being fourth, they had been the decider in the races for over a number of years. Even if they aren’t scheduled first, South Carolina plays a very important role.
One thing I don’t think that a lot of folks appreciate is how rapidly New Hampshire is changing. In cities such as Nashua and Manchester, 50% of the students enrolled in public school are of color. We are an evolving state. The state that you saw 20 years ago doesn’t exist in New Hampshire now, and 20 years from now, you’re going to see a much more diverse state.
Given President Biden’s absence on the Democratic ballot in New Hampshire’s primary, there is a movement for voters to write in his name. Do you think Biden could win the primary as a write-in candidate?
RB: The polling indicates that he is the overwhelming favorite by the Democratic primary voters and that they are enthusiastic about writing his name in. We are going to have a very robust primary with Marianne Williamson and also Congressman Dean Phillips, but if the primary were held today, President Biden would be the overwhelming favorite.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan has said that a large increase in write-in ballots may cause logistical issues for election officials, as all write-in ballots have to be counted by hand. Do you see this as a potential problem?
RB: The Secretary of State is preparing for that, and he is quite confident that we’re going to be able to have a result by the 11 o’clock news. They are adding individuals to come in to help at the end, but you’re not looking at all hundreds of thousands of ballots, you’re just looking at the ballots cast in the Democratic Party.
Do you think the state’s legislature will overturn the 1975 law that requires the New Hampshire presidential primary to be first-in-the-nation anytime soon?
CA: No, it’s not going to happen. Actually, there was a movement to enshrine the first-in-the-nation primary into the Constitution. If anything, it’s going the opposite direction to make it even more difficult to change. The first-in-the-nation primary status is very strong. It’s well supported in the state. Both parties agree that we should be first. The law is brilliant the way it is written. It allows the Secretary of State to be the sole individual to select that date, and we must be the first primary, or there could be nothing similar. I can’t see the national parties forcing our hand. We want the parties to want New Hampshire first. If we can keep the parties on board, that’s preferable; however, if they’re not, then we’re still going to go first.
If the DNC continues to pressure New Hampshire, do you think there will be any political ramifications for 2024 and future elections?
RB: There is really nothing that they can do that would warrant us to try to move the primary. The worst thing they could do is take away our delegates. I think we have 22 delegates out of 4800, so it’s not exactly going to be the decider of the nominee. I don’t expect that President Biden will be challenged at the convention anyway.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
