April 18, 2016                              

A Note from Unpledged Delegates

Last Saturday Wyoming Democrats from across the state came together to make their presidential preference known. In the days since the Wyoming Democratic Party Caucus there have been questions raised about Wyoming’s unpledged delegates. We would like to take this opportunity to explain our role and how we will carry out our duties.


Unpledged delegates, which the media call superdelegates don't have any special powers. In fact they have NEVER determined the nominee of the Democratic Party since the category was established in 1984. The single biggest factor in determining our nominee are the voters, whose participation in primaries and caucuses is what determines the overwhelming majority -- 85 percent -- of the delegates to the convention.  Superdelegates have never gone against the will or the vote of Democratic voters in America. In 2008, a number of superdelegates switched from Clinton to Obama once it became clear that Obama had won a majority of pledged delegates.
 

Wyoming's unpledged delegates have not voted and will not do so until late July at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The media has been lumping unpledged delegates in  into delegate counts based on an informal poll they conduct by calling around to the superdelegates. Since unpledged delegates can change their vote, and often do, this is an unreliable way to look at the delegate count. The Republicans will have up to 200 unbound superdelegates as well, and State Republican Parties in states like Colorado canceled their preference ballot and are instead sending an entire slate of superdelegates to the Republican National Convention.
 

We are not, as you may have heard, some sort of “elite party establishment.” We are average Wyoming residents who have been tasked with a national responsibility; a retired realtor and former Wyoming legislator, a businessman, a librarian and a non profit employee. We are husbands, wives, mothers and fathers, having raised and raising our families in this remarkable state. We have been elected by Wyoming Democrats to serve as volunteers to lead our state party. As delegates each of us is different, and not only will we vote our conscience, but there are a number of factors that we’ll consider when casting our vote, one of which is the caucus results in Wyoming.
 

We are participating in a system where the rules were approved well in advance of the primary season and before we were elected to our positions in the party. But our delegate votes have not been awarded to any candidate and will not be counted until the first vote at the National convention.  
 

We have heard from many of you that you are feeling disenfranchised by our choice to support Secretary Clinton. While we are excited that you are engaged in this discussion, we are concerned that the tone of the engagement is sometimes disrespectful and even bordering on violent and threatening. All of us have received many thoughtful emails and questions, but we have also received correspondence that makes us  concerned for our personal safety and that of our families’. We have reached out to campaign representatives and they have assured us that they do not condone this type of behavior or communication towards the “superdelegates.”
 

At this time we would like to respectfully ask our fellow Democrats to remember in their communications that we too are volunteers who have been working for years to advance the values we share.


We want to assure you that although Secretary Clinton has earned our personal support, all 4 of us are 100% committed to supporting Senator Sanders should he receive the majority of pledged delegates by the convention in July.


We look forward to answering your emails and concerns.

 

Democratically yours,

 

Ana Cuprill

Bruce Palmer

Mike Gierau

Mary Hales