A big part of his job is to protect the state from the New Hampshire primary, which by state law must be the first in the nation. Any Democrat who wants to be president makes sure to befriend Ray Buckley. When Buckley got a call in December from Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the worst part was that it was Joe Biden who screwed him up. Biden had decided to end New Hampshire’s decades-long reign of hosting the first presidential primaries, at least for Democrats. In its place: South Carolina, the state that resurrected Biden’s candidacy in 2020.
In this episode of Playbook Deep Dive, Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza talks with Buckley about New Hampshire’s fight to preserve its first-in-the-nation primary.