Attendees at the combined Lewis County convention and caucuses for legislative districts 19 and 20 raise their hands to show who supports Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at W.F. West High School in Chehalis in early May.
In March, Lewis County residents at the Democratic caucus overwhelmingly supported Bernie Sanders as their preferred presidential nominee at 81 percent.
The latest national delegate counts from The Associated Press show Hillary Clinton with 2,165 pledged delegates and 520 superdelegates, while Sanders trails with 1,357 pledged delegates and 39 superdelegates — with 1,243 delegates yet to be allocated.
While Clinton’s lead hasn’t gone unnoticed by locals, Sanders’ supporters at the combined county convention and legislative district caucus at W.F. West High School in Chehalis on Sunday vastly outnumbered Clinton supporters.
Nearly 200 people attended the convention. Many were wearing Sanders T-shirts, but a few “I’m With Her” buttons for Clinton could be found as well.
However, supporters of both candidates asked attendees to vote for the Democratic nominee in November so one of the Republican candidates doesn’t take the presidency.
The leaders of the Lewis County Democrats allowed attendees to speak about their prefered presidential candidate.
Sam Benowitz, of Morton, a Sanders supporter, acknowledged that the Vermont senator likely won’t win the nomination, especially with Clinton’s lead and the amount of superdelegates she has. The rules need to be changed to give superdelegates less say in the nomination, he said.
But he also advised Sanders supporters to vote for Clinton, if she gets the nomination.
“Hillary Clinton for all her faults is so much better than (Donald) Trump or (Ted) Cruz,” he said. “... You can vote for Hillary and you can continue to work in the Democratic Party and outside the Democratic Party … so that what (Sanders) stands for can go forward.”
Pam Carl, of Centralia, a Clinton supporter, said making change has to come from the ground up. Electing one candidate who doesn’t believe in corporate donations won’t do it, but she said she will support the party’s nominee.
“When it comes down to it, I’m going to support our candidate because we don’t want to have a Trump nation,” Carl said.
Tim Filer, of Centralia, a Sanders supporter, said this is the first time he’s been completely drawn to a candidate.
“I think the main thing that drew me to Bernie was the solidarity of his message over the last 30 years,” Filer said.
He said the country needs to stop fighting wars and that Sanders wants to make that happen and get money out of politics.
“He’s the voice of the future, and if we stick with it, he’s going to take us there,” Filer said.
Former local party chairman Bob Guenther, of Chehalis, a Clinton supporter, said he hopes the turnout and the excitement about the candidates isn’t just “a flash in the pan.” He said the local party needs funds and people to change the county’s political landscape.
“You can do more for Lewis County if you get out there and work for our party. That’s what we need to do,” he said.
Thirteen delegates and seven alternates from Legislative Districts 19 and 20 in Lewis County were selected at the event to go to the 3rd Congressional District Caucus on May 21 in Vancouver.
The majority of delegates selected Sunday attending the congressional caucus will be supporting Sanders.
