Tensions are rising among Democrats ahead of next week’s summer meeting in Chicago, where they will vote on key reforms to the party’s presidential nominating process.
The battle is over a proposal that would reduce the power of superdelegates ahead of 2020. Superdelegates are Democratic leaders who are able to vote for their preferred candidate at the convention, even if that candidate lost the primary or caucus in the delegate’s state.
Subcommittees within the larger Democratic National Committee have advanced the measure over the last year, tweaking it along the way to go even further than previously recommended. The current proposal has the support of both delegates who supported Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
In Chicago the measure will come before the entire DNC for a vote, and it’s expected to be close.
Last week, Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., sent a letter to the DNC blasting the move to curtail superdelegates’ power, arguing that the proposal would “disenfranchise elected officials,” who should have a greater say in the party’s nomination of a presidential candidate.
The proposal would would prohibit superdelegates from voting on the first presidential nominating ballot at a contested national convention and tether their votes to their state.
The original proposal was drafted by the Unity Reform Commission, created in the aftermath of the 2016 election to unite the Sanders and Clinton delegates who came to blows during the primary. The commission also proposed measure to provide DNC budget transparency and crack down on conflicts of interest, but those measures have been pushed to the side.
The meeting next week is expected to be contentious as an opposition wing has formed against the superdelegates measure. In the final days, members have been whipping each other to rally behind weakening the influence of superdelegates.
Reforming parts of the nominating process have been critical ahead of 2020 to heal divisions among factions of the party. Democrats expect a large number of candidates to jump into the 2020 contest, and are hoping that changes to the nominating process will prevent another gruesome primary.
