White House hopefuls have been visiting New Hampshire for months. But on Wednesday, the real parade begins.
Over the next 17 days, dozens of candidates will arrive at the state capitol in Concord to officially file paperwork for the New Hampshire primary. And all of them, from front-runners to fringe candidates, will sign their names at the desk of the man who started it all.
“Stephen Bullock created the New Hampshire primary,” explained Secretary of State William Gardner, who oversees voting in the state. “He did that in 1913, and this was his working desk.”
The state representative from Richmond traveled by horse and buggy to the state house to propose what was still a relatively new concept -- a primary to allow citizens to determine their party’s nominee. Bullock’s bill became law in time for the 1916 election, making next year’s contest the 100th anniversary of the New Hampshire primary.
To celebrate, Gardner has brought Bullock’s desk into his modest office, along with Richmond’s original ballot box -- meaning onlookers will be crammed even tighter than usual as candidates begin streaming in Wednesday morning.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is scheduled to be the first major candidate to arrive, followed by Donald Trump less than two hours later. On Thursday, the schedule grows even more jam-packed, as the state house welcomes Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina and Bernie Sanders.
Gardner’s staff is still fielding calls from campaign schedulers, trying to squeeze in filing with dozens of other events. A surrogate can visit in place of the candidate -- except in the case of Ben Carson, because he plans to file on the last possible day, according to the office’s hand-written calendar. On Nov. 20, the final day of the filing period, candidates must appear in person or they won’t appear on the ballot.
The corridors, as well as Gardner’s office itself, will remain open to the public throughout the filing process, setting the stage for some entertaining political theater.
“One guy sat down, started playing his guitar, and wouldn’t leave,” Gardner recalled from an earlier election cycle, noting candidates continued filling out their paperwork. Another year, a man took off his shirt and pants -- revealing a change of clothes underneath.
“But then he took off those clothes! So now you’ve got a pile of clothes on the floor,” Gardner said, laughing. “He had kind of lost it.”
Whether you’re a billionaire or an unknown, the filing fee is the same: $1,000, making New Hampshire one of the most affordable states in which to get your name on the ballot. A simple form declaring your eligibility, along with a list of delegates to represent you at a convention, is the only paperwork required.
“You can have some pretty powerful figures in this country standing next to a pretty average person,” said Gardner, who takes pride in the state’s inclusiveness. “They get on the ballot the same way. And the voters do the screening. No one else.”
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Earlier this year, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said he’d be open to a system that stripped Iowa and New Hampshire of their early spots on the nominating calendar. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has said New Hampshire residents, 94% of whom are white, “shouldn’t be the ones choosing who’s going to be president.”
“Well, that’s not anything brand new,” sniffed Gardner, noting that it was a young Harry Reid who once backed a bill placing Nevada’s caucus ahead of New Hampshire. It was later vetoed by the governor, who said he didn’t want to foster ill will between sister states. Besides, Gardner said, New Hampshire never battled to become first in the nation.
“We never took it from any other state,” he said, adding that Indiana voted a week earlier in 1916, before scrapping its primary for years. “We didn’t plan on this, it just evolved. ... And just because a state had better weather, or was bigger, or more powerful, we weren’t going to give it up.”
The tradition likely won’t change anytime soon. It has the support of candidates -- no doubt wary of angering voters in such crucial states -- and perhaps more importantly, the state legislature. New Hampshire law dictates the primary take place at least seven days before any other. Iowa, as a caucus state, does not figure into the law.
The small size of the state also plays into its popularity among campaigns. Candidates can criss-cross the state as needed, and enlist volunteers in all ten New Hampshire counties far more easily than Iowa’s 99.
These factors, combined with residents’ “live free or die” attitude, make New Hampshire an appealing state to an underdog. Locals still speak fondly of Bill Clinton’s “comeback kid” performance in 1992, and John McCain’s “all-in" strategy for New Hampshire in 2000 and 2008. Gardner’s favorite story is from 1968, when Democrat Eugene McCarthy stunned the political world by mounting a challenge to President Lyndon Johnson in New Hampshire. McCarthy ended up with more delegates, despite Johnson eking out more votes. The embarrassment was an early indicator of Johnson’s weakness, as he chose not to pursue another term.
“Isn’t this something?” Gardner asked. “That the little guy can change the course of history? And why can’t we have the same thing?”
Starting Wednesday, several underdogs, led by O’Malley, will be hoping Stephen Bullock’s desk brings them luck -- in a state that’s been making or breaking White House runs for a hundred years.