The Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking arm voted to seat New Hampshire’s full slate of delegates at the party’s convention this summer, ending a dispute over the state’s primary no longer being the first in the nation. The move followed an event where the state party conducted a delegate selection process, which some committee members were unaware of. Despite the lack of results, the state party declared the process complete, effectively circumventing the primary vote won by President Joe Biden.
Former state party chair Kathy Sullivan criticized the process as Kabuki theater, stating that it did not comply with DNC rules. However, the DNC proceeded with the vote to seat New Hampshire’s delegates at the convention. The fight over the primary calendar dates back to December 2022, when President Biden directed the DNC to empower voters of color by reordering the calendar. New Hampshire rebelled and held its primary outside the national party’s sanctions, leading to threats of sanctions against the state’s Democrats.
The resolution of this dispute was welcomed by Jim Roosevelt, co-chair of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, who acknowledged the challenges faced by both sides in the process. The fight over the primary calendar was largely inconsequential as Biden faced minimal opposition and secured victory. However, the resolution was crucial as the DNC plans to reexamine the order of its primary calendar for 2028 after the upcoming election. The vote to seat New Hampshire’s delegates at the convention paves the way for both sides to move forward and potentially avoid a similar dispute in the future.
