February 27, 2008
D.C. Shadow Senators Endorse Obama
The District's two shadow senators, Michael Brown and Paul Strauss, have both announced their endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama. The endorsements are actually quite significant because both senators are also two of the 22 superdelegates the city will send to the Democratic National Convention this summer in Denver.
"We feel strongly that we should use our vote to uphold the will of the people who by decisive margins chose Barack Obama in contests across the country and by our region’s voters in the Potomac Primaries," Strauss said in a statement.
D.C.'s delegation technically has more superdelegates than regular ones, due to the large number of At-Large DNC members who actually live in D.C.: the 39 total delegates are made up of 22 superdelegates, two add-on party leader elected official delegates, and then 15 pledged delegates split up proportionally based on our primary election results (the AP reports 10 are going to Obama and three to Clinton, so we're not sure where those last two delegates are).
With these latest announcements factored in, we've posted a breakdown of how the automatic delegates have said they'll be voting after the jump (thanks to Shadow Senator Paul Strauss for the details).
Photo by KC Ivey
Clinton Pledged
1. DNC At Large Member Mary Eva Candon
2. DNC At Large Member Yolanda Caraway
3. DNC At Large Member Hartina Flournoy
4. DNC At Large Member Harold Ickes
5. DNC At Large Member Ben Johnson
6. DNC At Large Member Eric Kleinfeld
7. DNC At Large Member Minyon Moore
8. DNC At Large Member Elizabeth Smith
9. DC-National Committee Woman Marilyn Tyler Brown
10. DC Council Chairperson Pro-Tempore* - Jack Evans (Is an automatic Add-On Party Leader Elected Official or PLEO Delegate).
Obama Pledged
11. Mayor Adrian Fenty
12. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton
13. DNC At Large Dr. James Zogby
14. DC- National Committeeman Arrington Dixon
15. Anna Burger, SEIU's Secretary-Treasurer * WAS A PENNSYLVANIA SuperDelegate, who was switched to DC when she moved.
16. DC Democratic State Committee Vice-Chairperson Jeffrey Richardson
17. US Senator Paul Strauss
18. US Senator Michael Brown
Unpledged
19. DC-Democratic State Committee Chairperson Anita Bonds
20. DNC At Large Member Donna Brazile
21. DNC At Large Member Larry Cohen
22. DNC At Large Member Mona Mohib
23. National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee Member Christine Warnke
24. DC Council Chairperson Vincent Gray Is an automatic Add-On Party Leader Elected Official or PLEO Delegate).
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The last two delegates are for Vermin Supreme.
Wait, hold the phone: Gov. Adrian Fenty?
As long as the DNC is giving out imaginary titles, why isn't Vincent Gray listed as Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.
Keep in mind that they can only cast Shadow Votes for Obama at the convention, so much like the offices that they hold, it doesn't mean much.
DANG!!! Here we have two Shadow Senators yet I wouldn't know them if they cut in line at the CVS.
I know! They sure do look a LOT like Barack Obama and Adrian Fenty, though.
FENTY : OBAMA
as
SKEET ULRICH : JOHNNY DEPP
Paul Strauss will be the guy in line at CVS flanked by 3 Europeans dressed in all-black with Secret-Service-style earpieces. And, no, I'm not kidding.
I don't think Evans is going to be one of the pledged PLEOs, at least not if he remains a Clinton supporter. Since Obama got more than 75% of the Obama+Clinton votes in DC, both of the pledged PLEO positions should be for Obama.
You're confusing things by using the word "pledged". Superdelegates, by definition, are not pledged, in the terminology of the DNC. They're free to change their minds at any time. Better to use something like "committed" to indicate which way superdelegates are saying now that they'll vote.
There are two more add-on delegates (not PLEOs) who will be chosen by the DC Democratic State Committee later, but those are not the positions for Gray and Evans. One may go to shadow representative Mike Panetta, however.
The PLEO positions, on the other hand, are pledged and are thus not superdelegates. The 15 pledged delegates are 5 from each "congressional district" (with Wards 1-4 being CD1 and Wards 5-8 being CD2), 3 at large, and 2 PLEOs. Since Obama got more than 70% but not more than 85% in both CDs, he gets 4 of the 5 delegates from each. Since he got more than 50% but not more than 83.333% overall, he gets 2 of the 3 at-large delegates. And since he got more than 75% overall, he gets both of the PLEOs. That's a total of 12 pledged delegates for Obama and 3 for Clinton.
And glad you liked the photo.
"Gov" Fenty?
Gunner, the DNC rules for delegate selection count Fenty as a governor, the shadow senators as real senators, and Eleanor Holmes Norton as a full House member, as well as dividing DC into two "congressional districts". Not that that excuses giving Fenty the title "Gov."
I actually think Governor is a more accurate title, since DC performs city and state functions. Plus it might give people a better idea of what DC does - not just a city where the capitol is.