Biden wins New Hampshire primary through a write-in effort after declining to campaign there

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden won New Hampshire’s largely symbolic Democratic primary on Tuesday, prevailing in an unusual write-in effort after he refused to campaign or appear on the state ballot.

Biden easily bested two longshot challengers, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson, who were on the ballot along with a host of little-known names. His victory in a race he was not formally contesting essentially cements the president’s grasp on the Democratic nomination for a second term.

The New Hampshire race will likely not count toward amassing delegates for the presidential nomination after Democrats in the state bucked a Biden-championed revamp of the primary calendar that placed South Carolina at the fore of the Democratic race for the White House.

Biden championed changing Democratic Party rules to put South Carolina first on Feb. 3, arguing that Black Democrats, the party’s most reliable base of support, and other voters of color needed to play a larger, earlier role in the primary. But Biden also won South Carolina’s primary in 2020, reviving his campaign after a blowout loss in New Hampshire, whose electorate is whiter and older than the rest of the nation.

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