Dean Phillips Greets Voters as ‘Write-In Biden’ Supporters Glare

As voting got underway, one polling location became an inadvertent microcosm of the strange divisions splitting New Hampshire Democrats.

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Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who is running a long-shot challenge to President Biden for the Democratic nomination, outside Hillside Middle School, in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday morning.

About 100 feet of sawhorse barrier lined the entrance to Hillside Middle School here in Manchester, N.H., unintentionally evincing the divide in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.

At one end, closest to the parking lot, stood Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, the lone Democratic candidate challenging President Biden. He was surrounded by about a half-dozen staff members and volunteers energetically waving signs.

At the other end were two members of the local Manchester Democrats, proudly holding signs encouraging voters to write in Joe Biden, who is not on the ballot after a clash over his effort to strip New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary status.

Julie Swant, 84, who was balancing a “Write-In Biden” sign on the back of the sawhorse fence, shifted her sunny disposition while greeting voters to glare at the mere mention of Mr. Phillips’s name.

ImageSupporters of President Biden urging voters to write his name in on their ballot at Hillside Middle on Tuesday.Credit…Hilary Swift for The New York Times

“We love Joe Biden. We were just chatting about how much he’s done, and it’s so much,” she said. Her fellow “Write-In Biden” sign holder and neighbor, Jim Webber, 68, nodded in agreement.

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