Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s running mate, on Friday endorsed a party proposal to eliminate all superdelegates in future elections.
“We Democrats need to do away with superdelegates once and for all. They are given undue influence and make the presidential nominating process less democratic. Glad to see the DNC giving this a real look,” Kaine tweeted.
We Democrats need to do away with superdelegates once and for all. They are given undue influence and make the presidential nominating process less democratic. Glad to see the DNC giving this a real look. https://t.co/tJJQKEw07g
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) March 9, 2018
A report this morning said the Democratic National Committee wants to get rid of the 700 superdelegates Democrats use to choose their presidential nominee.
Supporters of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an Independent Vermont senator, have argued that the superdelegate system helped Clinton clinch the nomination in 2016. The superdelegates make up 30 percent of the 2,382 total Democratic delegates, but are primarily members of the DNC, elected officials, and senior party leaders, which Sanders’ supporters have said is not a true representation of the party’s base.
Sanders and Clinton formed the University Reform Commission following the election to create a new superdelegate system. The commission proposed reducing superdelegates by 60 percent, but the DNC’s strategy takes it a step further.
If the plan is brought up for a vote, two-thirds of the DNC’s 447 members would have to support it in order to become new policy.
