Democrats Launch Effort to Get Biden on Ballot as Write-In Candidate in New Hampshire Primary

President Joe Biden speaks about his Bidenomics agenda at Dutch Creek Farms in Northfield, Minn., on Nov. 1, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

A group of Democrats led by a former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and one of New Hampshire’s staunchest defenders of its historic first-in-the-nation (FITN) primary rank has launched a write-in campaign for President Joe Biden to save him a place on the key battleground state’s primary ballot.

Write-in Joe Biden, complete with a WriteInBiden.com website, launched on Oct. 30 and has the backing of the state’s entire Democratic leadership.

It was launched within days of Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) putting his name on the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot and declaring a bid for the presidency.

Mr. Phillips’s candidacy came on the heels of President Biden’s formal announcement that he won’t be filing his candidacy for the New Hampshire primary because the state refuses to abide by the DNC’s new primary schedule, which bumped the state’s century-old status as holding the nation’s first presidential primary.

The President Biden-led calendar put the past pro-Biden state of South Carolina before New Hampshire for the first time in U.S. history.

When the DNC made the move, one of its biggest critics was Kathleen Sullivan, whose lengthy resume in politics includes being a former DNC chair and serving for nearly two decades as leader of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

In a June op-ed piece that ran in the Union Leader, Mrs. Sullivan warned that “President Biden would create a vacuum” if he bypassed the New Hampshire primary, noting that “an insurgent candidate could emerge to fill the vacuum.”

“An insurgent candidate could draw crowds, receive press attention, win the primary, and make people question the inevitability of a Biden nomination,” she wrote.

Mrs. Sullivan concluded that the “most logical step to end this mess is for the DNC to accept the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.”

But that never happened.

Mrs. Sullivan is now leading the charge to fix the very problem that President Biden created for his own party. It comes with some irony because she served on the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee and played a key role in preserving New Hampshire FITN primary status.

Mrs. Sullivan, who stepped down from power in 2020 after deciding against seeking a fourth term representing New Hampshire Democrats at the national level, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the campaign.

Portsmouth Community Radio host Larry Drake, who’s listed as the Write-in Joe Biden group’s treasurer and stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “proud” to be part of the Biden write-in effort, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Mr. Drake is also a former chairman of the Rockingham County Democratic Committee in New Hampshire. On his LinkedIn account, he lists himself as an “Independent Political Organization Professional.”

Days before launching Write-in Joe Biden, Mrs. Sullivan appeared to focus the blame for the primary shift solely on the DNC, saying that “the best way of handling our anger is to say, ‘We’re gonna vote anyway, despite what the DNC did. And we’re going to write ... President Biden because he’s our president [and] we think he’s done a great job.”

Ahead of the first Republican debate in Milwaukee, the Biden–Harris 2024 Campaign and Democratic National Committee launched billboards, a plane banner, and a mobile billboard truck highlighting the positions of Republicans and President Biden's accomplishments, in Milwaukee, on Aug. 23, 2023. Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for DNC

Write-in Candidates

Some write-in candidates have been victorious at the polls.

In 2010, in Alaska, Lisa Murkowski was elected to the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate, and in 2019, Barry McDonell was elected mayor of Camas, Washington, as a write-in.

According to the Federal Election Commission and election officials in various states, Mickey Mouse remains the single most popular write-in candidate in both state and federal elections.

New Hampshire Republicans have slammed the idea of a write-in for President Biden in the state primary.

New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager posted on X that writing in President Biden’s name on the primary ballot is “akin to political Stockholm Syndrome” after President Biden essentially gave state voters “the middle finger” by refusing to be on the ballot.

“Don’t forget that Joe Biden doesn’t care enough about N.H. to put his name on the ballot, let alone show up to ask for your vote,” the Rockingham County Republican Party posted.

When Mrs. Sullivan wrote her op-ed piece, she expressed specific concern about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy for the Democratic nomination. Mr. Kennedy has since switched to running as an independent.

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes a campaign announcement at a press conference in Philadelphia on Oct. 9, 2023. Mr. Kennedy announced that he would end his Democratic primary bid and instead would run for president as an independent. Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images

Mrs. Sullivan wrote that when Mr. Kennedy picked up momentum in the polls, the “DNC was searching for ways to avoid the embarrassment of a fringe candidate,” such as Mr. Kennedy, “defeating the President in the first primary.

As President Biden continues to struggle with historically low favorability ratings, Mr. Kennedy’s numbers have continued to climb steadily in polls, with support coming from both Democrats and Republicans.

According to the latest Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, former President Donald Trump is the top pick among general voters, with President Biden receiving 33 percent of their vote and Mr. Kennedy at 19 percent, numbers that put him well beyond fringe status.

The monthly poll is a joint venture of Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll, one of the oldest trackers of public opinion in the United States.