An Open Letter to the DNC: Abolish Superdelegates

To DNC Chair Tom Perez and the members of the Unity Reform Commission:

In advance of the release of your recommendations to reform the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination process, I am writing to strongly urge you to recommend the full elimination of unpledged “superdelegates” from the Presidential nominating process. The existence of superdelegates in our nominating process takes power away from our grassroots, forces our candidates to prioritize Party insiders, and is inherently undemocratic. It’s time to move forward.

I was incredibly proud of the progress our Party made towards reforming the nominating process and moving in a more progressive direction during the 2016 Primary campaign and convention. As a member of the DNC Rules Committee in Philadelphia who introduced language to eliminate superdelegates, I am encouraged that we are continuing important conversations about how to increase transparency and participation in the process. Now, it is time to take the next step.

Superdelegates currently constitute the equivalent pledged delegate vote from 24 states, 4 territories, and the District of Columbia, combined. They are more likely to be White, male, and older than our Party at-large. They have no responsibility to reflect the will of their home state or even the specific community from which they call home. Indeed, here in my state of Rhode Island, superdelegates overwhelmingly opposed the winner of the popular vote in the 2016 presidential primary, meaning that our state gave substantially more delegate votes to the candidate who won substantially less actual primary votes.

Put simply, the continued existence of superdelegates in the nominating process is unfair to our voters and inconsistent with our core values.
Now is the time to reform our system and remove this mechanism of elite influence. By eliminating superdelegates, we will send a strong message to grassroots Democrats across the country that it is their voice — and only their voice — that ultimately matters in the Presidential nominating process. Moreover, we will make it clear to our future candidates that it is the will of our voters — and only their will — that will determine our nominee in 2020 and beyond. My hope is that the candidate who best reflects the hopes and priorities of our Party’s grassroots is our nominee, without the potential for interference from superdelegates.

Thank you for your continued dedication to our Party,

Aaron Regunberg
State Representative
Rhode Island