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Sanders wins Seattle’s 43rd District caucus

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In a win that was all but assured, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders landed another victory in Seattle on Sunday at the 43rd Legislative District Democratic caucus.

Few if any delegates appeared to have switched sides at the caucus following Sanders’ dominating win over Hillary Clinton at the precinct-level caucus last month, which resulted in 717 pledged delegates for Sanders and 326 for Clinton heading into Sunday’s event.

In the end, 710 delegates went to Sanders while 317 went to Clinton (alternates were not filled to make up the differences as it would not have changed the delegate allocation math). That means 43rd District Democrats will send 32 Sanders-pledged delegates and 14 Clinton-pledged delegates to the Congressional-level caucus on May 21st.

Hundreds of delegates and alternates from Capitol Hill and around the 43rd District gathered at the Lincoln High School auditorium in Wallingford for what was the latest stage in the process that will eventually culminate in nominating a Democrat for president.

Delegates and alternates were asked to declare their candidate preference on Sunday and were given the opportunity to switch their pledged allegiances, though there was little opportunity given to sway votes. While insignificant in terms of delegate allocation, Sanders ended up gaining a slight percentage over Clinton from the precinct caucus:

Precinct level:

  • Sanders: 68.7%, resulting in 717 pledged delegates
  • Clinton: 31.3%, resulting in 326 pledged delegates

Legislative District level:

  • Sanders: 69.1%, resulting in 32 delegates
  • Clinton: 30.9%, resulting in 14 delegates

The process for credentialing the 1,027 delegates and mathematically whittling them down to 46 took several hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Democratic candidates for various political offices were also given an opportunity to speak. Of course, there was also vigorous debate over procedural rules for the event.

After the 46 delegates were divided up among the two presidential candidates, delegates then had to choose who among them would represent their candidates at the 7th Congressional District caucus. The process continues up to the State convention, winnowing down the number of delegates down to the amount allocated to Washington State by the Democratic National Committee. The delegates who make it through these hoops will eventually go to the national party convention in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, along with a handful of “super-delegates” (these are elected officials or senior party members), in late July.

Representatives from each campaign were given five minutes to speak about their candidates on Sunday to try to sway delegates to change their preference.

The Century Ballroom overflowed during the March caucus. More pictures and coverage here

The Century Ballroom overflowed during the March caucus. More pictures and coverage here

“Capitol hill is the the target for an unforgivable amount of LGBT hate crimes,” said one Sanders representative. “Support the Sanders campaign so we’re not making apologies to the next generation.”

“Hillary Clinton has the most specific plan to get from the world as it is the world that we want,” said a Clinton delegate. “She has proved she can take on the right-wing machine.

The Sanders campaign pulled off a landslide victory across the state during the March caucus — and at caucus locations across much of the Hill — tallying 73% of votes and claiming 25 delegates in the state vs. Clinton’s 9. Long lines were the story of the day on Capitol Hill as thousands of voters showed up at the Century Ballroom to caucus for president. Overflow crowds gathered in Cal Anderson Park and a nearby church to debate candidates in an effort to sway votes.

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