NH gets ready for primary season

As summer comes to a close, the political temperature in New Hampshire is heating up.

"We just want the best people to run for office," said one Granite State voter.

"It's that kind of state," said another New Hampshire voter. "People want to make their own minds up."

Voters are ready to take a hard look at the field of candidates, all of whom will be passing through the office of New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan.

"There's no question the concentration of candidates showing up in the state is increasing," Scanlan said.

Scanlan spent 20 years as a deputy secretary of state and is now front and center.

He tells NBC10 Boston that he is still considering when the candidates will come to Concord and file to be on the primary ballot.

"I will be announcing the days of the filing period soon," said Scanlan.

The secretary is focused on the here-and-now, but also keeping an eye on efforts from Democrats to strip the Granite State of its first-in-the-nation primary status.

President Joe Biden has championed a plan to make South Carolina the first state to vote. The move was approved by the Democratic National Committee earlier this year. A state law in New Hampshire mandates that it holds the first primary in each presidential election.

The GOP has voted not to change its 2024 primary order, and Republican Gov. Chris Sununu responded in a tweet that "New Hampshire will be going first in 2024." Granite State Democrats — including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, as well as Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas — have also spoken out against the move.

Joe Biden and the power brokers at the @DNC in Washington think New Hampshire’s time is up, but it’s not in our DNA to take orders from Washington.
 
New Hampshire will be going first in 2024. https://t.co/9D8TOQ7swq

— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) February 4, 2023

"The vote by the Democratic National Committee in Philadelphia is not the last word on the 2024 Presidential primary calendar.”

Statement from New Hampshire’s full federal delegation on today’s primary calendar changes by the DNC. #NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/uPucXgCAXP

— NH Democratic Party (@NHDems) February 4, 2023

Scanlan says New Hampshire is simply the right place for the presidential nominating process to begin.

"There's always been challenges to our first in the nation status," said Scanlan. "New Hampshire is really the audition phase, which is anyone who wants to experience that dream to grow up and be president can come here and make a shot at it."

Stay with NBC10 Boston in the months ahead for full coverage of the candidates and primary process unfolding in New Hampshire.