Clinton Delegate Walkout Avoided In Jefferson County

By Vince Leibowitz on Mar 30, 2008 in 2008 Presidential Race, 2008 Texas Elections

The Beaumont Enterprise has the skinny on the Jefferson County Convention. Buried in the story is a note about some Clinton Delegates almost deciding to walk out:

LeBlanc almost missed out on her dream due to confusion over the selection process that led to some frayed nerves in the divided precinct.

Some of the Obama supporters maintained that four separate votes should be held, one for each delegate and alternate. The outnumbered Clinton delegates objected that this would guarantee every slot is occupied by an Obama supporter.

They countered that party rules call for a single vote and that the four nominees who receive the most votes should attend the state convention.

“Why have delegates and spend the whole day here if this is how it’s supposed to turn out?” LeBlanc said prior to the official vote.

Strife between the two factions almost resulted in a walkout by the Clinton supporters.

An election volunteer eventually called party officials and determined that only a single vote was supposed to have taken place for the selection of all four slots.

Despite some momentary conflict, the mood at the convention was generally festive and many people said that if their candidate does not win the nomination they will throw their full support behind whoever prevails.