Former President Barack Obama and Gov. J.B. Pritzker were among 81 Democrats added Saturday to Illinois’ delegation for the party’s national nominating convention in Milwaukee, though what the event may ultimately look like remains in flux due to the coronavirus pandemic.
State Democratic officials were forced to change party meeting rules due to the pandemic to allow for electronic and mail balloting to select party officials and allies to join the 101 delegates elected in the March 17 primary.
Obama, also a former state and U.S. senator, automatically qualified for the Illinois delegation as a former president. Obama maintains a residence in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago despite remaining in Washington, D.C., after leaving office.
Pritzker, too, qualified for delegate status as governor along with the rest of Illinois’ statewide elected officials, its 13 Democratic congressmen and two U.S. senators, and several state lawmakers and aldermen.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also earned automatic status while Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was added in her government post and as county Democratic chairman.
The delegation will be headed by state Democratic Chairman Michael Madigan of Chicago, the nation’s longest-serving speaker in a statehouse. Madigan traditionally turns over the delegation chairmanship to another high-ranking official, such as Chicago’s mayor, closer to convention time.
With former Vice President Joe Biden having secured the needed delegates to win the party’s nomination last week, delegates who won seats to represent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will also be part of the delegation.
On primary night, Biden won 62 of the 101 district delegates up for grabs compared with 29 that were awarded to Sanders after the former vice president defeated the Vermont senator 59% to 36%. Under DNC rules, another 54 delegates selected Saturday will be pledged to Biden while the remainder will technically be unpledged.
“Donald Trump works to divide us instead of bringing us together,” Madigan said in a statement announcing the delegation results. “It is clear that Donald Trump must be a one-term president, and we need to work harder than ever to make that a reality.”
Just what the Democratic convention will look like remains unknown. Democratic National Chairman Tom Perez has said the party wants to have an in-person presence in Milwaukee. The party already moved back its scheduled convention from July 13 to the week of Aug. 17.
But the party also has moved to adopt remote voting rules for delegates, and Perez last week told Sirius XM host Joe Madison, “It’s not an either-or, you either have a full convention or you have a virtual convention. There are gradations in between, and we’re working very closely to make sure that it happens.”
Republicans also find their convention scheduled a week later in Charlotte, N.C., in flux. Convention operations are expected to continue in that city, but Trump has wanted to deliver an acceptance speech in a crowdlike setting that runs counter to North Carolina’s pandemic regulations. That has prompted Trump and others to look for another state for the convention’s final scheduled night.
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