William March and Billy House/Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON Florida and Michigan Democrats will finally get a hearing on the national party’s decision to disqualify their national convention delegates – in effect not counting their presidential primary votes -- but not until the end of May.
The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the national Democratic Party will meet May 31 to decide appeals from both states.
Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, a committee member who filed the appeal on the Florida delegates, said he feels confident at least some of the Florida delegates will be reinstated.
But how that’s done could determine whether Hillary Rodham Clinton gets any benefit from her win in the Jan. 29 Florida primary.
The same committee previously ruled that no delegates from either state would be seated at the convention, because both held their primaries in January, earlier than party rules allow.
That would mean the votes wouldn’t be counted, because primary votes take effect by deciding how delegates vote in the nominating contest at the convention.
If the entire Florida delegation were seated, Clinton would gain 38 pledged delegates in her race against Obama.
Ausman contends in his appeal that the Rules and Bylaws Committee didn’t have the authority to ban Florida’s unpledged superdelegates, and said he expects them to be reinstated.
He said he hopes the committee will also re-seat the pledged delegates, although it might reduce their voting power.
If the committee seated the delegates but gave them half a vote each, for example, Clinton would gain a net 19 delegates instead of 38,
But the committee could also simply cut the number of delegates in half. Because of the way the delegates are allocated, that would virtually eliminate any advantage for Clinton.
Word of the meeting comes just after Florida’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar complained to the DNC that a staff analysis of the appeals was being kept “under a cloak of secrecy.”
DNC lawyers completed an analysis and recommendation two weeks ago, but the party has declined to release it.
Ausman said Janee Murphy of Tampa, a former Hillsborough County party chairman and a member of the Democratic National Committee, and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, now running for a Miami congressional seat, will argue the case for his appeal.
Martinez, challenging Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, is one of the Democratic Party’s best hopes to turn over a Republican congressional seat in November.
Ausman said a favorable resolution on the delegates would help Martinez in his race, and that he and Murphy will “give an inclusionary appearance that the African-American and Hispanic communities are behind us.”
Some Floridians have charged that the national party was stalling on its consideration of the Florida appeal, hoping that either Clinton or Obama would win a prohibitive lead, making the question of the Florida and Michigan delegates moot.
The May 31 date comes after all the remaining large-state primaries – North Carolina and Indiana May 6, West Virginia May 13, and Oregon and Kentucky May 20.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com. William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com
The Rules and Bylaws Committee of the national Democratic Party will meet May 31 to decide appeals from both states.
Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, a committee member who filed the appeal on the Florida delegates, said he feels confident at least some of the Florida delegates will be reinstated.
But how that’s done could determine whether Hillary Rodham Clinton gets any benefit from her win in the Jan. 29 Florida primary.
The same committee previously ruled that no delegates from either state would be seated at the convention, because both held their primaries in January, earlier than party rules allow.
That would mean the votes wouldn’t be counted, because primary votes take effect by deciding how delegates vote in the nominating contest at the convention.
If the entire Florida delegation were seated, Clinton would gain 38 pledged delegates in her race against Obama.
Ausman contends in his appeal that the Rules and Bylaws Committee didn’t have the authority to ban Florida’s unpledged superdelegates, and said he expects them to be reinstated.
He said he hopes the committee will also re-seat the pledged delegates, although it might reduce their voting power.
If the committee seated the delegates but gave them half a vote each, for example, Clinton would gain a net 19 delegates instead of 38,
But the committee could also simply cut the number of delegates in half. Because of the way the delegates are allocated, that would virtually eliminate any advantage for Clinton.
Word of the meeting comes just after Florida’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings of Miramar complained to the DNC that a staff analysis of the appeals was being kept “under a cloak of secrecy.”
DNC lawyers completed an analysis and recommendation two weeks ago, but the party has declined to release it.
Ausman said Janee Murphy of Tampa, a former Hillsborough County party chairman and a member of the Democratic National Committee, and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, now running for a Miami congressional seat, will argue the case for his appeal.
Martinez, challenging Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, is one of the Democratic Party’s best hopes to turn over a Republican congressional seat in November.
Ausman said a favorable resolution on the delegates would help Martinez in his race, and that he and Murphy will “give an inclusionary appearance that the African-American and Hispanic communities are behind us.”
Some Floridians have charged that the national party was stalling on its consideration of the Florida appeal, hoping that either Clinton or Obama would win a prohibitive lead, making the question of the Florida and Michigan delegates moot.
The May 31 date comes after all the remaining large-state primaries – North Carolina and Indiana May 6, West Virginia May 13, and Oregon and Kentucky May 20.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at bhouse@mediageneral.com. William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com