Trio of Valley Democrats will attend national convention

WASILLA — Three Mat-Su residents will be part of a decidedly pro-Bernie Sanders Alaska delegation heading to the Democratic National Convention this summer in Philadelphia.

Wasilla’s Gregory Jones, Palmer’s Nathan Sidell and Big Lake’s Casey Steinau will join 17 other Alaska delegates at the convention, which is scheduled for July 25-28 at the Wells Fargo Center in the “City of Brotherly Love.”

Just how much love the Valley’s contingent of delegates will show for Sanders in the race for the party's presidential nomination, however, remains unclear.

The list of delegates representing Alaska at the national convention was announced in a press release sent Monday by the Alaska Democratic Party, which wrapped up its biennial state convention Sunday in Anchorage.

More than 550 Democrats representing all of Alaska’s 40 districts attended the state convention at the Wells Fargo Sports Center on the campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage. There, 16 pledged delegates were chosen to represent Alaska at the national convention, including 13 for Sanders and three for Hillary Clinton. The delegates were divvied up based on the results of the March statewide caucuses, which went strongly for Sanders both statewide and in the Mat-Su.

As two of the 16 pledged delegates selected to represent Sanders, Jones and Sidell are required to vote for their candidate during the nomination process at the national convention. But as one of four unpledged delegates (AKA “superdelegates”), state party chair Steinau will be free to vote for the candidate of her choice at the convention — and she has yet to publicly declare who she’ll support.

In the party’s press release, the only presidential candidate Steinau mentioned was the Republicans' chosen candidate.

“Alaskans will join other Democrats from across the nation, and we will unite behind our Democratic nominee and help them defeat presumptive Republican Nominee Donald Trump this November,” Steinau said.

Steinau is one of two unpledged delegates from Alaska who have yet to publicly support a candidate. Also publicly undecided is Ian Olson of Fairbanks. Unpledged delegate Larry Murakami of Fairbanks has declared his support for Sanders, while the state's fourth superdelegate, Juneau’s Kim Metcalfe, has said she’ll support Clinton.

Steinau’s home district strongly favored Sanders during the March caucuses at Houston High School, where 98 of the 110 Big Lakers who attended voted for the Vermont senator. Statewide, 81 percent of caucus-goers voted for Sanders in March.

However, Clinton led Sanders 1,716-1,433 in pledged delegates heading into Tuesday’s primaries in Oregon, where 61 pledged delegates were to be awarded, and Kentucky, which was set to select 55 pledged delegates.

A candidate needs 2,382 total delegates to secure the nomination. Clinton has gained the public support of 524 unpledged delegates compared to 40 for Sanders, giving her a lead of 2,240-1,473 in total delegates. That number is contingent upon unpledged delegates who’ve publicly declared a preferred candidate voting for that candidate at the national convention.

Including Oregon and Kentucky, 10 primaries and one presidential caucus remained undecided Tuesday, with 897 pledged delegates still up for grabs between eight states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Alaska Republican Party selected its delegates earlier this month, with three local Trump supporters and one each for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio selected to represent the state at the national convention in Cleveland.