MANCHESTER, New Hampshire – The Granite States are heading to the polls for the nation’s first primary election, keeping a 104-year-old tradition alive.
But this time, the landscape is dramatically different from the last election.
The Democratic primary is poised to be rejected by the national party — while on the Republican side, the field has been whittled down to just two primary contenders.
Here’s everything you need to know about New Hampshire elementary schools.
Why is New Hampshire the first in the country?
It is the law. No, really.
New Hampshire has held its first primary of every election cycle since 1920. (Iowa, which held the Republican nomination vote last week, operates a caucus system.)
Nikki Haley is hoping to prove she has the political muscle to go hand-in-hand with Donald Trump. CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
For decades, the Granite State enjoyed that status by unwritten custom, but after two contested Democratic primaries in 1968 and 1972, followed by the national trauma of the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon, there was talk of New Hampshire relinquishing its premier status. . in favor of a regional elementary school involving all six New England states.
The idea didn’t sit well with either Republican Gov. Meldrim Thomson or Rep. state Democrat Jim Splaine, who first proposed legislation that fostered New Hampshire’s first-in-state status in 1975, and gained powerful allies in the GOP chief executive.
“Thomson has a sincere interest in preserving New Hampshire’s unique contribution to American democracy,” Splaine wrote in 2021. “He ran for governor on the slogan, ‘People above Politics,’ and the nation’s First Primary School is a way to continue pursue that ambition.”
Splaine’s bill was passed just before the 1976 primary and stipulated that the New Hampshire contest must be held at least a week before any other state election — and could be held in the calendar year before the general election if any other state tried to cut line.
The rest is political history.
Is President Biden on the ballot in New Hampshire, and if not, why not?
President Biden is launching a write-in campaign in the Granite State. Reuters
President Biden was not on the ballot in Tuesday’s primary.
After the 2020 election, national Democrats decided to make South Carolina the first election held on February 3, on the grounds that it has a more diverse and representative population than either Iowa or New Hampshire.
But you know that law New Hampshire passed in the mid-1970s that said they had to go first? They mean it.
In November, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Scanlan pointed two fingers at the Democratic National Committee, setting both party primaries for January 23.
“Using racial diversity as an adjunct in trying to reshape the presidential nominating calendar is a bad precedent,” Scanlan told reporters at the time. “At what point does a state become too old or too rich, or too educated or too religious to hold early elementary schools?”
In response, the DNC announced it would give New Hampshire no delegates to this summer’s national convention in Chicago.
Out of respect for party leaders, the Biden campaign did not register to vote, leaving the New Hampshire Democratic establishment to mount a write-in campaign in hopes of securing a victory over challenger Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) and self-help author Marianne Williamson
President Biden is not on the ballot in New Hampshire. AP
Can Democrats vote for Nikki Haley in New Hampshire?
There are three types of voters in New Hampshire: Republican, Democrat and undeclared.
That last group — what most people call “independents” — is by far the largest and can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries under state law.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has actively courted “undeclared” voters in the Republican contest, much to the chagrin of former President Donald Trump.
“Independents and Democrats are allowed to vote, so to try and stop Trump, they go out and they register and they can register easily,” the 77-year-old complained last week to Fox News host Sean Hannity.
That’s not entirely true, however.
While participating in the Republican primary as an undeclared voter is as simple as requesting a GOP ballot at your local polling place, New Hampshire law does not allow so-called “crossover voting.”
Any Democrat who wants to vote in the GOP primary must register as a Republican or undeclared, and the last day to do so is Oct. 6.
So registered Democrats can no longer vote for Haley, if they want to.
Dean Phillips has criticized his own party for not having a more open process in New Hampshire. ZUMAPRESS.com
Why is New Hampshire important?
Given its early position, New Hampshire could provide critical momentum to its primary winner.
In 2016, for example, it helped Trump avoid a narrow Iowa caucus defeat by giving him a landslide victory and a springboard to the Republican nomination.
In 2008, Republican voters helped revive Sen. John McCain’s campaign bounced back with a landslide victory over, among others, Mitt Romney — the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts.
This time, Haley needs to win — or come close — to prove that she is a viable contender and that Trump can be beaten.
On the other hand, New Hampshire is Trump’s prime chance to eliminate the last vestiges of resistance to the GOP nomination.
On the Democratic side, the main question is how much support Biden will receive as a write-in candidate against two heavy underdogs.
Who will win New Hampshire?
As in Iowa, it will be a surprise if Trump does not emerge as the GOP winner.
The 45th president has a double-digit lead over Haley in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate, though the spread isn’t as wide in the Hawkeye State.
Donald Trump is the obvious choice on the Republican side. Reuters
On the Democratic side, Biden is the clear choice with his incumbent advantage likely to overcome the traditional odds of pulling off a write-in campaign.
What’s next?
For Democrats, the race heads to South Carolina and the controversial Feb. 3 primary.
On the Republican side, both Nevada and the Virgin Islands are scheduled to hold caucuses on February 8.
Haley is running in the Nevada primary on February 6, in lieu of a caucus where actual delegates are allocated.
Nikki Haley has her sights set on South Carolina next. AFP via Getty Images
Therefore, the next big contest on the Republican side is South Carolina on February 24.
That gives Haley and Trump about a month to campaign before their next big showdown — assuming Haley makes it that far.
New Hampshire has not supported a Republican for president in a general election since 2000, when it narrowly chose George W. Bush over Al Gore.
In 2020, Trump lost the state to Biden by seven percentage points.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
