President Joe Biden has easily won New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, even though he was not on the ballot.
A write-in campaign by his supporters helped Joe Biden win the New Hampshire Democratic primary, even though he was not a candidate.
The president did not take part in the primary, because New Hampshire defied the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and refused to move its vote to after South Carolina, which the national party chose as the first state to vote.
Dean Phillips, a Minnesota congressman, challenged Mr Biden in the primary, but he only got 19% of the vote, compared to Mr Biden’s 67%, according to partial results on Tuesday night.
Marianne Williamson, an author and motivational speaker, got 4% of the vote, based on partial returns.
The Republican primary was more exciting, as Donald Trump and Nikki Haley competed for the nomination.
Follow live updates for reaction and analysis Watch: Trump defeats Haley in New Hampshire The DNC picked South Carolina as the first state to vote, because it said its diverse population represented the country better.
But New Hampshire kept its primary, because its state constitution says it has to be first.
The DNC then took away the state’s 24 delegates and Mr Biden did not sign up as a candidate. The number of delegates a candidate gets in the primaries determines who becomes the party’s nominee at the national convention in August.
Joe Biden faces Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat Mr Phillips, a moderate who became a congressman in 2019, said he would not give up his campaign. “I’m just afraid that Democrats are sleepwalking into disaster,” he told the BBC.
“We did it in 2016. It is unforgivable and shameful to do the same thing knowingly this year.”
Mr Phillips, who inherited his stepfather’s Phillips Distilling Company fortune, which makes popular schnapps and liquor brands, is one of the richest members of Congress. He spent over $5m on ads in the state, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Mr Biden spent $156,000.
