N.M. delegates’ ‘civil war’ on convention floor draws attention
Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish was feeling frustrated and more than a little perturbed Tuesday with some of her fellow New Mexico delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. In particular, Denish disagreed with the tactics of a handful of zealous delegates pledged to Sen. Bernie Sanders who often jeered when convention speakers mentioned Hillary Clinton’s name.
This phenomenon wasn’t confined to New Mexico’s delegation. One of the major stories coming out of the convention when it began Monday was the loud protests of the “Bernie or Bust” delegates who said they won’t vote for Democratic nominee Clinton under any circumstances.
“They were booing their own people,” said Denish, a Clinton supporter. “They booed Bernie Sanders himself when he said he’s voting for Clinton. … They even booed that little girl.”
Denish was referring to 11-year-old Karla Ortiz, the American-born daughter of undocumented Guatemalan parents in Nevada. Ortiz spoke emotionally about her fear of her parents being deported. She met Clinton during a campaign stop in Las Vegas, Nev., this year, and their encounter was used in a Clinton campaign ad.
Sanders delegate Rusty Pearce, 31, of Las Cruces, said Tuesday that he was one of the Sanders delegates who booed, even during Ortiz’s speech. “I wasn’t booing because she was an 11-year old girl,” he said
in a telephone interview. “I was booing because of the vomit coming out of her mouth.”
Pearce said he also booed pro-Clinton speakers Anastasia Somoza, who has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia, and first lady Michelle Obama because he disagreed about what they said about Clinton.
Denish, who served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Bill Richardson from 2003-10, made it clear that she was complaining about a minority of New Mexico Sanders delegates. “There are just four or five of them,” she said.
“We have two jobs to do here,” Denish said. “We have to nominate a candidate for president, and we have to represent New Mexico in the best light.” New Mexico’s Clinton supporters, she said, “were all very respectful to Bernie Sanders and all the speakers.”
Sanders delegate Kathleen Burke said that about six of the 16 New Mexico Sanders delegates joined hundreds of other protesting Sanders delegates in marching off the convention floor after Clinton won the nomination in Tuesday’s roll-call vote. She said she and other delegates went to the press tent, where they sat on the ground for more than an hour. Burke said she and the others were interviewed by several international news organizations.
Burke said she had no plans to return to the convention floor Wednesday unless there is some kind of organized protest there.
Denish wasn’t the only one who noticed strife among New Mexico delegates. Politico published a story Tuesday about Sanders loyalists that included a lengthy section about New Mexico’s delegation.
“Up a few rows was the New Mexico delegation, which was in the thick of a civil war,” wrote Julia Ioffe.
She wrote about an argument between Sanders delegate Nicole Renee Peters of Taos and Clinton delegate Theresa Trujeque of Sandoval County. She quoted Peters as saying, “They’ve been telling us to shut up all day,” and Trujeque saying, “They’ve been fighting and booing all day.”
Ioffe wrote: “The Bernie people told me elaborate tales of how the [Democratic National Committee] outfoxed and cheated them at every turn — and there were very many turns, so many we had to keep going over them for clarity.” She said Sanders delegates pointed to Joe Kabourek, the state Democratic Party’s executive director, and said, “He’s going to take our credentials away as soon as this interview is over!”
Pearce, one of the Sanders delegates quoted in Politico, said he believes the presence of the Politico reporter thwarted any credentials challenges.
Pearce faced another controversy. The state delegation had a tally sheet Monday to record the votes of the delegates during a roll call. Each delegate had to sign his or her name and check which candidate he or she was voting for.
The sheet showed an X in the Clinton column besides Pearce’s signature.
“I’m not perfect,” Pearce said. “I’ve made mistakes before. … But I’m 99 percent sure I voted for Bernie.” A photo of the sheet shows no obvious evidence that Pearce’s vote had been altered. Still, he said he suspected Democratic Party officials had changed his vote to get back at him for protesting so loudly.
A spokeswoman for the party said Tuesday she didn’t know what had happened, but the mistake was corrected. When state Democratic Chairwoman Debra Haaland announced the vote Tuesday, Sanders had 16 votes, the number he won by finishing a close second to Clinton in the New Mexico primary election.
Denish said she hopes the booing has peaked. “Hopefully, they’ll stop shouting and start listening,” she said.