The date of the New Hampshire presidential primary was officially scheduled for January 23, 2024. That is the third earliest date on which the primary in the Granite State has been conducted following the cycles of 2012 (January 10th) and 2008 (January 15th). The only other cycle in which the primary was conducted in January was 2004 (January 27th). The primary was held in March for every presidential cycle from 1916 through 1972 before switching to the last Tuesday in February for three cycles (1976, 1980, 1984) and then the third Tuesday in February for three more (1988, 1992, 1996). Since the turn of the 21st Century, the primary has also been held in the second month of the year three times: in 2000 (February 1st), 2016 (February 9th), and 2020 (February 11th).

With Joe Manchin announcing he will not seek reelection to his U.S. Senate seat, West Virginia Republicans are poised after 2024 to hold all offices elected on a statewide ballot for the first time in nearly 100 years. In 1928, Herbert Hoover topped the GOP ticket in the state with a 17.4-point victory with Henry Hatfield unseating Democratic U.S. Senator Matthew Neely by 1.5 points. [Republican Guy Goff was sworn into the state’s Class II seat in March 1925]. Also victorious that cycle were Republicans William Conley for Governor (by 7.6 points), Secretary of State George Sharp for a second term (11.5 points), Edgar Lawson for Auditor (9.9 points), Treasurer William Johnson for a fourth term (9.4 points), Attorney General Howard Lee for a second term (10.0 points), Agricultural Commissioner John Smith for a second term (10.5 points), and William Cook for State Superintendent of Free Schools (7.6 points). Manchin is the last Democrat to win statewide office for the party in West Virginia.