Advertisement NH Primary Source: Bill Shaheen leads group of longtime NH Democratic leaders backing Biden Democratic National Committeeman joined in Biden endorsement rollout by Larsen, Keefe, Hodes, Demers, more Share Shares Copy Link Copy

New Hampshire Primary Source gives you breaking and behind-the-scenes news and analysis on all things political in the Granite State. John DiStaso is the most experienced political writer in the state and has been writing a weekly column since 1982. He is a recipient of a 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the New Hampshire Press Association. To sign up for WMUR's weekly New Hampshire Primary Source and political email newsletter, click here.>> Download the FREE WMUR appMAJOR ENDORSEMENTS FOR BIDEN. Joe Biden’s campaign has rolled out a slate of established New Hampshire Democratic leaders who have joined his camp and made their endorsements public here for the first time early Thursday. Several of them previously endorsed former candidates.Bill Shaheen is on board with the former vice president. The longtime Democratic National Committeeman and husband of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen gave his highly sought-after endorsement to Biden because, he said, “We need a president and a Senate who can bring dignity back to our country and immediately command respect on the world stage. Joe Biden can do both.”Joining Shaheen with Biden are former state Senate President Sylvia Larsen, former state Democratic Party Chair Joe Keefe, longtime campaign strategist and former Cory Booker senior adviser Jim Demers and former U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, who had been the state campaign director for former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.Also with Biden are Hodes’ wife, Peggo Horstmann Hodes, former state Sen. Peggy Gilmour, former Carroll County Democratic Chair Chris Meier and Manchester attorney and former NHDP vice chair Maureen Manning.The new Biden supporters also include three Manchester elected officials – Alderman-at-Large Dan O’Neil and Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry, both of whom had backed U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s brief run for president, and Ward 2 School Board member Kathleen Kelley.For many months, Bill Shaheen acted as an unofficial greeter and ambassador of the first-in-the-nation primary, walking with many candidates through downtown Dover and introducing them to local voters and activists.He will now bring his formidable influence both locally and nationally to bear for Biden. “Americans are worried, and the world is watching,” said Shaheen, who has been active in primary campaigns since Jimmy Carter came to New Hampshire as a little-known Georgia governor in the 1976 cycle.“It is time for us to rise up and fight. Our ancestors are calling us to join this battle, so I will do it gladly. Winning the White House is only half of the battle. In order to change our course, we must win the Senate.”Jeanne Shaheen is seeking a third term in the Senate, and Democrats view holding her seat as critical to flipping the Senate from Republican to Democratic control. She made it clear almost a year ago, when she announced her reelection bid, that she would not make an endorsement in the presidential primary and will “focus on my own race.”“One of the major motivating reasons I went with Cory Booker so early was I always felt his message and career were built on unity and bringing people together,” Demers, who co-chaired President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns in New Hampshire, said in an interview.“That became a central question I looked at after he dropped out and I believe Joe Biden checks that box as well. He’s demonstrated he can work with a lot of different factions and different people. Unifying the country is a goal of his as well.”Larsen is a former 20-year state senator who served 12 years as leader of the Senate Democrats, four of them as Senate president. She has been a friend of Biden for many years and was a leader in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns. Larsen hosted house parties for several of the current presidential candidates."After careful consideration of our many talented candidates, I believe Joe Biden is the best candidate to lead us forward to a moral, compassionate America which restores our faith in the American dream of equal opportunity, access to healthcare, innovation in industry, and international stability," she said.Keefe, who chaired the NHDP from 1994-1995 and twice ran for the U.S. House, endorsed former candidate Kamala Harris last summer. A longtime defender of New Hampshire’s status as the nation’s first primary, he was a DNC member from 1997-2002 and led a party task force 15 years ago that tried to develop strategies to push back on efforts at the national party level to dilute the role of the primary.Backing Biden, Keefe said, “We need to pick the person who can unite the Democratic Party, unite the country, defeat Donald Trump and work to heal our divided nation.”“Joe Biden has spent his entire career delivering Democratic wins and moving our country forward. We need him in the White House to bring the American people together, set a more positive course and get things done.”They join previously announced Biden supporters former Gov. John Lynch, Speaker of the New Hampshire House Steve Shurtleff, House “Dean” Rep. Laura Pantelakos, the state’s youngest lawmaker, Rep. Denny Ruprecht, and Rep. Richard Komi, a Nigerian refugee.Two state Senators, Lou D’Allesandro and Martha Fuller Clark, are also on board with Biden, along with former New Hampshire Chief Justice John Broderick, former Ambassadors Terry Shumaker and Dick Swett and former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.Biden will return to New Hampshire on Friday to meet voters in Claremont and Salem, while former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will campaign for Biden on Sunday.NO MORE ‘CUSHY’ APPOINTMENTS. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday will launch a television ad promising to end the “the auctioning off of American diplomacy to the highest bidder.” Click here.‘BERNIE’S DAMN BILL.’ Love Bernie Sanders or not, support Medicare for All or not, chances are you’ll be entertained by the Sanders campaign’s new video series on health care. Click here.RNC RACE DOWN TO THE WIRE. The race for Republican National Committeeman between four-termer Steve Duprey and challenger Chris Ager is up for grabs. Click here.BIG INVESTMENT. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang has dropped $3.3 million into the New Hampshire advertising market so far in this campaign – and that, combined with his frequent appearances, appears to have prompted some upward movement. Click here.$1 MILLION IN NH. A pro-Deval Patrick super PAC, Reason to Believe, announced last week that it planned an “initial investment of $2 million to promote the former Massachusetts governor’s presidential candidacy.” Click here.ENDORSEMENT SEASON CONTINUES. As endorsements continue to be rolled out with two-and-a-half weeks until the presidential primary, here’s another one for former Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Click here.MOWERS ENDORSEMENTS. Republican congressional candidate Matt Mowers has his first slate of endorsements and has signed the U.S. Term Limits Pledge to serve no more than terms if elected in November. Click here.MAYBERRY ENDORSEMENTS. Republican 1st District congressional candidate Matt Mayberry has doubled his public endorsement list in a week. Click here.(John DiStaso can be reached at jdistaso@hearst.com or distasoj@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso and on Facebook: Facebook.com/JohnDiStasoWMUR.)