Biden Wins New Hampshire on Write-In Votes

The showdown between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley in New Hampshire on Tuesday got most of the attention—Trump won—but Democrats also had a primary. It was, however, a little unusual. President Biden will win based on write-in votes, projects the AP. The president's name wasn't actually on the ballot because of a dispute between the Democratic National Committee and the state party about when the primary should be held. As a result, the DNC, which the AP notes has the final say on election rules, has decreed that the primary is meaningless because no delegates will be awarded.

Still, it's not a good look for a sitting president to lose a primary under any circumstances, so Biden surrogates—unofficially—organized a statewide write-in campaign. As Slate puts it, "Biden can't officially win, but he can't afford to lose." In early results, write-in votes (most of them for Biden, presumably) accounted for 73% of the vote, ahead of Dean Phillips (20%) and Marianne Williamson (5%), per the Washington Post. The write-in names will be officially sorted after the first tally. (One observer thought Biden needed to hit about 80% to have a good night.)