Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Bernie Sanders in Missouri’s primary election in March, but more Sanders delegates turned out to the Missouri Democratic Party’s state convention over the weekend. There were 321 delegates for Clinton and 453 for Sanders.
Missouri Democratic Party chairman Roy Temple. Photo courtesy of Missouri Democratic Party.
There was bickering among the campaigns at the convention, but party chairman Roy Temple hopes Democrats will see the big picture.
“If there are people that show up to any event like this and they’re determined to cause conflict, they can probably succeed. I operate under the assumption that people are here to do the work and to express enthusiasm for their candidate and prepare for the fall election,” said Temple.
Some Sanders supporters say they don’t trust Clinton while some Clinton supporters say Sanders is not a true Democrat.
The fighting wasn’t like the drama that Nevada’s state Democratic Party convention experienced, where violence broke out. Chairs were reportedly thrown and verbal threats were made there by activists, including to that state party’s chairwoman.
Clinton will have 36 Missouri delegates and Sanders will have 35. Clinton has secured enough delegates to be the presumptive nominee.
The Democratic National Convention is in Philadelphia beginning July 25.
Temple is glad to see an increase in the number of young voters involved in this election cycle.
“These things are about math and if you get your people out, you win. I mean, they’re going to have a lot of say in what happens here,” said Temple.