Democrats seek deal on insiders’ role in picking nominee

CHICAGO » Democrats are on the cusp of overhauling how they pick a White House nominee, but not without one final public fight over whether to curtail the oversized role played by party insiders, a major source of ill will in the 2016 race.

The decision expected later Saturday was seen as the latest test of party unity as Democrats try to close the internal divisions exposed by the battle between eventual nominee Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and turn their attention to the November elections, with control of Congress at stake, and the presidential contest in 2020, when President Donald Trump would be up for a second term.

Backers of the Vermont senator accused national party leaders of tipping the scales for Clinton in the last election.

At issue is the influence of superdelegates, the hundreds of Democratic National Committee members, elected officials and party elders.

The DNC chairman, Tom Perez, is pushing to strip these insiders of their presidential nominating votes at a contested convention in 2020. That would leave first ballot votes to a candidate’s pledged delegates, as determined by the outcomes of state primaries and caucuses.

Under the proposal, superdelegates could vote on any

subsequent ballots if it took multiple rounds to pick a nominee.

“I’m confident tomorrow that we are going to move forward united with a very clear message to voters: ‘We’re here to grow the party. We’re here to earn your trust,’” Perez told activists Friday after DNC had spent hours in private debating the changes.

The plan, resulting from two years of negotiations, has pitted Perez against at least two previous party heads; Don Fowler, who led the DNC under President Bill Clinton, and Donna Brazile, who took the reins in the closing months of the 2016 election.

Fowler said he was trying to gather opposition votes as he aims to use procedural measures to delay a final vote until a future DNC meeting.