President Biden was projected to win the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire Tuesday, even with his name not listed on the ballot in the Granite State.

The Associated Press, NBC News, and CNN projected his victory over challengers Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson just after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

The 81-year-old commander-in-chief last appeared in New Hampshire in April 2022, and forewent campaigning in the state after the Democratic National Committee put South Carolina first on the voting calendar. But local Democrats ignored the move and went ahead with the contest.

In a statement after the race was called, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said residents delivered an “overwhelming victory for President Joe Biden” thanks to hundreds of grassroot organizers.

Buckley said even with Biden’s name not on the ballot, New Hampshire Democrats turned out in “robust numbers,” a sign that they approve of his work on the economy and reproductive freedoms.

“Once again, New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary made history — and we are proud as ever,” Buckley said. “Granite Staters know the stakes of this election: our freedoms and democracy on the ballot. As we turn our focus to the general election, it is abundantly clear New Hampshire Democrats are excited to re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris, elect a Democratic governor, and flip the State Legislature blue.”

A wide-ranging write-in campaign mounted over the past few months to make sure Biden did not suffer an embarrassing loss in the first-in-the-nation primary. Massachusetts Democrats like Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov. Maura Healey even made the trip north to help the president.

In a statement announcing a series of “grassroots events” in the state, Wu said Democrats did “not have a choice, but to work as hard as we possibly can to try to explain what’s at stake here.”

“It’s a moment in our political history, in our country’s history where it feels like people are not talking to each other and one set of information is just staying within a certain space,” she said.

Biden spent Tuesday afternoon in Virginia, where he held a campaign event celebrating the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that guaranteed a citizen’s right to an abortion.

At a rally with Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden lashed out at former President Donald Trump, who the Associated Press projected would win New Hampshire, as he spoke about abortion.

“The person most responsible for taking away this freedom in America is Donald Trump,” Biden said.

Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.