Divided N.M. delegation to dole out votes
U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján spoke up Monday about the leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee that have deepened the divisions between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and made for a raucous opening day for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
“Those emails at the DNC should have never been written, they have no place in our discourse, and they are just wrong,” Luján, D-Santa Fe, said through a spokesman in a written statement. “Debbie Wasserman Schultz made a decision to put the country ahead of herself personally, and she made the right decision by stepping down. That was the right thing to do.”
Luján, who is a New Mexico superdelegate, is supporting Clinton — as are the state’s other eight superdelegates.
Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, resigned Sunday after Wiki Leaks published more than 19,000 emails
hacked from the organization. Some of them showed favoritism toward Clinton. On Monday, after being booed by Sanders supporters at a breakfast for the Florida delegation — of which Wasserman Schultz is a member — she announced she would not speak at the convention.
Outrage over the emails has emboldened the “Bernie or Bust” faction — Sanders supporters who vow to never support Clinton. Sanders himself was booed by some of his own supporters Monday when he urged them to get behind his former rival.
The strife between the Clinton and Sanders forces also has touched New Mexico’s delegation, which includes 27 Clinton delegates and 16 for Sanders. At least three of the Sanders delegates are said to be part of the “Bernie or Bust” camp.
There is some drama surrounding New Mexico’s delegation at the Republican convention in Cleveland last week that won’t be faced by their Democratic counterparts in Philadelphia this week.
Last week, there was great speculation about whether Gov. Susana Martinez would announce the state Republican delegation’s unanimous vote for Donald Trump. That’s due to the governor’s
well-reported feud with the Republican nominee.
In the end, Martinez did speak to briefly praise New Mexico, but she allowed the state’s youngest GOP delegate, Samuel LeDoux, to announce the delegation’s vote.
There is no such mystery about who will announce the delegation’s vote during the roll call at the Democratic convention on Tuesday.
The state Democratic Party in a news
release announced that state party chairwoman Debra Haaland and U.S. Sen. Tom Udall will announce the vote.