By Rebecca Morin
WASHINGTON, Iowa — After nearly 18 hours of deliberating on April 30, the Democratic District Convention for the 2nd Congressional District ended with an equal split of the eight national delegates, four for Sen. Bernie Sanders and four for Hillary Clinton.
The big win for Sanders’s supporters that night, however, was not the number of delegates going to the national convention, but new rules and representation that were passed with the ideals Sanders’ campaign has run on.
A goal to reach $15 minimum wage and to oppose superdelegates were both passed — points that have been a main part of Sanders’s campaign.
Both had several recounts but were eventually passed. Similar planks, or fundamental goals for the party, were deliberated in other districts, but did not pass.
Sanders’ supporters had 191 delegates coming into the district convention who were nominated at the county convention on March 12. Clinton had 180 delegates going in. There are 15 Clinton delegates and 14 Sanders delegates going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 25-28, according to results from all four Iowa Congressional Districts.
Daniel Clark, a 25-year-old from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, was voted by Sanders’s delegates to represent them at the national event.
As one of 18 vying for the two male delegate seats, Clark said he stands with Sanders because of the support the Vermont senator has given the LGBTQ community. Clark, who said he was part of the LGBTQ community, is going to stay with Sanders throughout the whole convention, and he will not switch to Clinton.
During his testimony before the other Sanders’ delegates, Clark said he had the opportunity to meet Sanders and asked why LGBTQ issues were important to him. Sanders replied it’s part of being a decent human being, Clark said.
“I believe I will stand by the person who has been standing by me and that’s where I want to be,” he said. “I don’t feel like anyone else is worthy of my vote this time around, and I will stick to my gut about that.”
Sanders supporters also had a victory when it came to adding a supporter to the State Central Committee.
Recent Sanders staffer Kate Reveaux ran to be one of two women being added to the committee.
Reveaux, who is from Johnson County, said in her testimony that working for the Sanders campaign has inspired her to continue his message in the Democratic Party.
In addition, a Sanders delegate was also elected as a presidential elector — or the Electoral College.
University of Iowa junior Nick Kruse was elected by both Clinton and Sanders delegates to be on the Electoral College. Kruse said unlike some of the other Sanders delegates, he is not “Bernie or Bust” — meaning he will vote for someone other than Sanders if he is not the nominee.
Of the candidates running for the presidential elector, several Sanders’ delegates openly said they were “Bernie or Bust.” Kruse said he ran because he was concerned with hearing other candidates say that and wanted to try to stop them.
“I’m doing this to inspire young people,” Kruse said. “I have been a Bernie since Day 1, but I know ‘Bernie or Bust’ is not the way to go about this.”