Apr 04, 2008  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

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.”

Avoiding a ‘political mess’

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 ...