A recent report from The New York Times claimed that high-ranking Democrats are floating Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) as the party’s nominee in the event of a brokered convention.
The Times interviewed 93 superdelegates and found “overwhelming opposition to handing the Vermont senator [Sen. Bernie Sanders] the nomination if he arrived with the most delegates but fell short of a majority.”
To secure the nomination, a candidate needs to reach a majority of pledged delegates on the first ballot, or 1,991 delegates. If a candidate fails to reach a majority on the first ballot, then a second ballot is called and the 771 superdelegates can cast a vote.
The Times claimed that many of these superdelegates believe that Sen. Brown could “emerge as a white knight nominee at a brokered convention.”
“A vast majority of those superdelegates – whose ranks include federal elected officials, former presidents and vice presidents and DNC members – predicted that no candidate would clinch the nomination during the primaries, and that there would be a brokered convention fight in July to choose a nominee,” said the report.
The report claimed that Democrats “have place a steady stream of calls” to Brown’s office in recent weeks and are willing to “risk intraparty damage to stop” Sanders at the convention if they get the chance.
“If you could get to a convention and pick Sherrod Brown, that would be wonderful, but that’s more like a novel,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) said. “Donald Trump’s presidency is like a horror story, so if you can have a horror story you might as well have a novel.”
The report further claimed that a number of superdelegates are dreaming “of a savior candidate who is not now in the race, perhaps Mr. Brown, or maybe someone who already dropped out of the race, like Senator Kamala Harris of California.”
Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York Democratic Party and a superdelegate, said that Sen. Sanders wants to “redefine the rules and just say he just needs a plurality.”
“I don’t think we buy that. I don’t think the mainstream of the Democratic Party buys that. If he doesn’t have a majority, it stands to reason that he may not become the nominee,” Jay added.
Brown launched a presidential exploratory committee in late 2018, but ultimately decided against running.
He spent nearly $28 million on his reelection campaign in 2018 in order to defeat Republican challenger Jim Renacci, a former Ohio congressman. Brown’s wife, Connie Schultz, is a liberal syndicated columnist.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
