As if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ sudden withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday were not enough of an 11th-hour development, here is a fresh wild card before tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary.
The Merrimack County Republican Committee filed suit this morning in U.S. District Court. Its targets? New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan (a Republican) and Granite State Republican Party Chairman Chris Ager.
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The plaintiffs are trying to make Tuesday’s primary Republican only. They aim to prevent “party raiding,” namely, letting Democrats, independents, and same-day-registrants help pick the 2024 Republican nominee. Their justified concern is that these non-Republicans could support a weak GOP candidate who Democrats more easily could defeat in November. Mischief makers might vote not for the best GOP candidate but simply to create chaos and confusion as primary season unfolds.
The plaintiffs assert that the “open primary” that has gained much attention in recent days is both fictional and a violation of New Hampshire state law. As their suit asserts, according to N.H. § RSA 659:14, “If the rules of a party permit a person who is registered as an undeclared voter to vote in the party’s primary, any person desiring to vote in that party’s primary shall also announce the name of that party at the time of announcing the person’s name [emphasis added].”
The Merrimack Republicans add that the statute allows an open primary only under these conditions: “The party chairman shall notify the secretary of state in writing prior to the filing period for state offices whether the party has adopted such a rule [emphasis added].”
According to the suit, “the Secretary of State has acknowledged that the NH SOS does not have in its possession any correspondence from the NHGOP Chair declaring the Party’s Primary to be open to Undeclared Voters.”
To tighten the screws even further, the suit states that “in order to prevent ‘party raiding’ the Party at its Annual Meeting on January 28, 2023, the NH GOP Annual Meeting (the Party’s highest governing authority), voted to close its Presidential Primary for January 2024.”
“We have a First Amendment right to freedom of association. So, the members of the party should be able to select their nominee without outside interference,” says Karen Testerman, Merrimack County GOP chairman. She argues that New Hampshire Republicans have “a First Amendment right to limit its membership as it wishes, and to choose a candidate-selection process that will in its view produce the nominee who best represents its political platform.”
Conversely, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) is counting on non-Republicans to show up and buoy what likely will be her last stand against surging former President Donald J. Trump.
If the U.S District Court grants the Merrimack Republicans their desired injunction, non-GOP ballots will be set aside on Tuesday and either counted or not counted once this dispute is settled.
If they prevail, Haley’s effort to bring Democrats and independents to the polls likely will implode and yield Trump the coup de grâce that crushes Haley and completes his steamroll to the GOP nomination.
If the suit fails, however, and Democrats and independents become agitated by a justified effort to bar them from tomorrow’s GOP primary, they could grow even more motivated and turn out in even bigger numbers for Haley. That could complicate matters for Trump.
This fascinating, last-minute gamble is a worthy effort to make the New Hampshire primary what every primary should be: closed and available only to registered party members so that they can choose the best person as their standard bearer at the general election.
Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor.
