Sen.
Hillary
Clinton
remains
the
preferred
presidential
candidate
among
the
20
gay
Democratic
superdelegates,
despite
losing
some
support.
At
least
one
gay
superdelegate
is
no
longer
backing
the
campaign,
according
to
National
Stonewall
Democrats,
and
another
is
publicly
reconsidering
his
support.
John
Perez,
a
Los
Angeles
labor
organizer,
was
aligned
with
Clinton
in
February,
but
Stonewall
now
lists
him
as
uncommitted.
The
shift
comes
as
David
Cicilline,
the
mayor
of
Providence,
R.I.,
is
reconsidering
his
support
for
Clinton
after
her
campaign
asked
him
to
stay
away
from
a
rally
for
political
reasons.
Cicilline
told
the
Providence
Journal
he
would
think
“very
carefully”
about
pulling
his
endorsement
after
the
campaign
asked
him
to
not
attend
a
rally
for
fear
that
his
presence
would
draw
protests
from
a
labor
union
he’s
fighting.
Cicilline
and
Perez
did
not
respond
this
week
to
interview
requests.
Although
the
developments
have
little
impact
on
Clinton’s
lead
over
Sen.
Barack
Obama
among
the
gay
superdelegates,
they
showed
the
race
remains
competitive.
“I
don’t
think
anybody
is
locked
in,”
said
Rick
Stafford,
leader
of
the
Democratic
National
Committee
gay
caucus
and
a
superdelegate
who
supports
Clinton.
“Our
role
was
to
be
fluid
and
when
situations
or
circumstances
arose,
we
would
use
our
wisdom
to
make
choices.
So
I
don’t
think
that
everybody
is
absolutely
locked
in.”
Yet
for
now,
at
least,
a
majority
of
gay
superdelegates
remain
in
Clinton’s
camp.
“We’re
proud
of
the
overwhelming
support
we
have
among
superdelegates
in
the
LGBT
community,”
said
Jin
Chon,
a
Clinton
campaign
spokesperson.
“We
have
the
support
of
the
vast
majority
of
superdelegates
in
the
LGBT
community
because
they
know
Hillary
Clinton’s
strong
record
on
LGBT
issues
and
her
plan
to
promote
equality
for
all
Americans.”
Eleven
superdelegates
are
on
record
as
backing
Clinton
and
three
are
supporting
Obama.
Six
of
the
20
gay
superdelegates
remain
uncommitted
or
hold
unknown
positions.
Missouri
state
Rep.
Maria
Chappelle-Nadal
was
previously
misidentified
as
a
gay
superdelegate
and
has
removed
her
name
from
the
list.
Chappelle-Nadal,
who
is
straight,
said
she
is
a
member
of
the
party’s
gay
caucus
because
she
considers
herself
an
ally
and
has
“a
large
LGBT
community”
in
her
district.
“I
just
hope
there’s
no
confusion
on
that,”
she
said.
“But
I
am
very
supportive
and
will
remain
that
way.”
Superdelegates,
who
consist
mostly
of
party
activists,
Democratic
governors
and
members
of
Congress,
are
not
obligated
to
commit
themselves
to
any
candidate
and
are
free
to
switch
from
one
candidate
to
another.
But
one
gay
superdelegate
said
many
of
his
cohorts
are
quickly
making
their
final
decisions.
“I
think
people
are
starting
to
get
to
the
camps
where
they’re
going
to
stay,”
said
Jason
Rae,
a
Wisconsin
activist
who
supports
Obama.
“I
firmly
believe
we
don’t
have
any
undecided
superdelegates
—
we
just
have
undeclared
superdelegates.”
Democratic
National
Committee
Chair
Howard
Dean
has
asked
all
superdelegates
to
choose
a
candidate
before
July
1
to
avoid
a
contested
convention.
In
an
interview
last
week
with
CBS
News,
Dean
said
he
wants
to
avoid
people
becoming
“disenchanted
or
demoralized
by
a
convention
that’s
really
ugly
and
nasty.”
“There’ll
be
some
nasty
fights
if
it
goes
to
convention,”
he
said,
“and
people
will
walk
out.”
Stafford
agreed.
He
said
the
convention
could
become
a
“political
mess”
if
neither
Clinton
nor
Obama
has
secured
the
party’s
presidential
nomination
by
that
time.
“The
bottom
line
is,
if
we’re
still
fighting
this
out
in
August,
or
even
in
July,
we
might
as
well
stay
home,”
he
said.
“I
don’t
think
we
can
pull
ourselves
together
in
that
short
amount
of
time.”
Democrats
have
796
superdelegates
and
3,253
delegates
pledged
to
a
presidential
candidate.
The
latter
category
is
elected
by
Democratic
voters
in
primaries
and
caucuses
or
by
state
party
committees.
A
combined
total
of
2,024
pledged
delegates
and
superdelegates
is
needed
for
either
Clinton
or
Obama
to
secure
the
Democratic
nomination
for
president.
According
to
CNN
tallies,
Clinton
has
won
1,243
pledged
delegates
and
243
superdelegates.
Obama
has
won
1,414
pledged
delegates
and
212
superdelegates.
Rae
said
he
suspects
the
approximately
350
superdelegates
who’ve
yet
to
announce
their
preferred
candidate
will
do
so
soon,
but
the
process
cannot
be
rushed.
“Every
person
has
to
do
it
on
their
own
time
and
their
own
schedule,”
he
said.
“I
think
that
each
person
has
to
do
it
when
they
feel
comfortable
with
their
choice.”
Stafford
said
any
remaining
holdouts
would
likely
announce
their
choice
after
the
final
Democratic
primaries
are
held
June
3
in
Montana
and
South
Dakota.
“My
feeling
is
we
will
have
a
nominee,
if
not
by
the
end
of
the
first
week
of
June
then
by
the
second
week
of
June,”
he
said.
“That’s
just
my
old-time
wisdom.”
Such
revelations,
Stafford
said,
would
help
Democrats
determine
a
presumed
nominee
before
the
convention
in
August
and
begin
rallying
support
behind
that
person.
“By
the
time
we
get
to
August,
we’re
all
going
to
be
voting
for
the
same
person,”
he
said.
“That
might
be
who
we’re
supporting
now,
or
it
might
not.”
Joshua
Lynsen
can
be
reached
at
jlynsen@washblade.com.
