Biden won't appear on New Hampshire primary ballot

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will not have his name on the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot after the state refused to abide by new Democratic Party rules that South Carolina hold its primary contest first, the Biden re-election campaign said on Tuesday.

The Democratic Party had moved to eliminate Iowa and New Hampshire as the states holding the first two election nominating contests in favor of South Carolina.

New Hampshire state law mandates that the state hold its primary election first, but the Democratic National Committee wanted South Carolina to go first in a push for influence from more diverse states.

Biden's campaign chair, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said in a letter to New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley that Biden would not submit a declaration of candidacy for the New Hampshire ballot ahead of the deadline on Friday.

She said Biden looks forward to having his name on New Hampshire's general election ballot on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, once he secures the Democratic Party's nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next August.

Biden, 80, has faced no major opposition in his drive to be the party's nominee.

Buckley, in response to Rodriguez's letter, said: "The reality is that Joe Biden will win the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary in January, win renomination in Chicago and will be re-elected next November."

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Leslie Adler)