Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Democrats’ do-over convention smoother, but changes little (UPDATED)

(Originally posted 12:02 p.m.) Although less chaotic than January's caucus and February's first try at a Clark County convention, Saturday's Democratic Party do-over ended up not changing much in the battle between U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Closely matching the results from January, the final totals from Saturday's Democratic county convention showed 3,442 votes for Clinton (54 percent) and 2,900 ballots for Obama (46 percent). That relative showing -- which mirrored the caucus, when Clinton outpolled Obama 4,023 to 3,245 -- will see Clark County Democrats send 1,330 Clinton delegates and 1,133 Obama delegates to the state convention, where Nevada's delegation to this summer's Democratic National Convention will be picked.

The smoothness with which the voting unfolded Saturday had many delegates breathing a sigh of relief, mixed with surprise.

"This is so professional!" said astonished delegate Mike Werzlow as he walked up to the registration table.

"This is night and day compared to the last convention. Much more organized, simple," said Robert Craig after he voted for a slate of delegates to the state convention.

The county party, state party and campaigns for both Obama and Clinton helped organize the Clark County Democratic Convention's second take after a chaotic first attempt in February ended without any delegates to the state convention getting chosen.

"Today is an incredible day," said John Hunt, the Clark County Democratic Party chairman.

Some people, though, said they were disenfranchised.

Susan Avila and Sharon Harris had pink receipts showing they were chosen as delegates at their Jan. 19 caucuses and therefore eligible to vote at today's event. But they never received notification in the mail and when they showed up today, they were not listed as delegates.

Avila said she was allowed to cast a vote after complaining to state party officials. Harris said she was not allowed to vote.

"This is not right," Harris said.

Hunt, though, said the instances of delegates not being listed were "insignificant."

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy