Questions abound over delegate commitments
When the League of Women Voters of Washington County’s guide to the 2016 Pennsylvania primary was distributed Tuesday with the Observer-Reporter, Margaret Jennings’ cellphone started ringing at 7:15 a.m.
The reason? The guide lists presidential candidates to whom those who hope to be delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia are committed, a reflection of information that appears on ballots in the Democratic primary. The Democratic presidential nominee needs 2,383 delegate votes to be nominated from the 4,765 expected to attend the convention.
But the guide also includes a list of Republican delegate candidates with no similar commitment designation beside their names.
Republicans reading the Voters Guide wanted Jennings, league volunteer ombudsman, to explain why this crucial information was lacking because the GOP may, in Cleveland this summer, be facing a contested convention. Party rules say a presidential candidate needs the votes of 1,237 delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot from the 2,472 total delegates to be elected.
There’s a discrepancy between the Democrat and Republican listings because the Republican State Committee uniquely does not require this information to appear on the primary ballot.
“All the information in the guide came from the state,” Jennings said Thursday.
Washington County Elections Director Larry Spahr began fielding similar questions, getting at least a dozen phone calls by the beginning of April from Republican voters asking, “How do we know what candidate these delegates are committed to?”
Spahr told them to call either the Republican State Committee or the delegate candidates themselves.
The Observer-Reporter began surveying delegate candidates last month in an attempt to determine to whom they are committed, and an April 10 post on the Washington PA GOP Facebook page also lists information on delegate candidates.
Following are Democratic and Republican delegate candidates who are on the ballot and their commitment status in the 9th and 18th Congressional Districts that cover Washington and Greene counties.
9th Congressional District
Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
Vote for not more than five, two males and three females to be elected
• Madeline Snyder, Greene County, Hillary Clinton
• Mike Cordaro, Fayette County, Bernie Sanders
• Kathleen Hendricks, Fulton County, Sanders
• Gillian Kratzer, Blair County, Clinton
• Alexis Waksmunski, Sanders
• Melinda Deal, Fayette County, Clinton
• Vincent A. Vicites, Fayette County, Clinton
• James T. Davis, Fayette County, Clinton
• Sheri Morgan, Franklin County, Sanders
Delegate to the Republican National Convention
Vote for not more than three.
• Lois Kaneshiki, Blair County, Ted Cruz
• Bill Shuster, Bedford County, not committed
• Debbie Taylor, Franklin County, undecided. Leaning toward either Donald J. Trump or whoever wins district
• Judy Ward, Blair County, district winner
• Cody Raymond Knotts, Fayette County, Trump
• David Show, Fayette County, Cruz
• Robert L. Thomas, Franklin County, uncommitted, will decide closer to the convention
• Joseph Lamantia, Indiana County, district winner
Alternate delegate
Vote for not more than three.
• August C. Stickel IV, Blair County, district winner
18th Congressional District
Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
Vote for not more than six, three males and three females
• Ted Kopas, Westmoreland County, Clinton
• Norma Jean McCuen, Allegheny County, Clinton
• Mykie Reidy, Allegheny County, Sanders
• Michelle Zmijanac, Allegheny County, Clinton
• Joan M. Buchewicz, Allegheny County, Sanders
• David V. Coder, Greene County, Clinton
• Craig Grella, Allegheny County, Sanders
• Joyce Ann Bender, Allegheny County, Clinton
• Franco Harris, Allegheny County, Clinton
Alternate delegate
Vote for one
• Robert Rendar, Westmoreland County, Clinton
Delegate to the Republican National Convention
Vote for not more than three
• Justin Deplato, Allegheny County, Trump
• Scott Avolio, Westmoreland County, first ballot, district winner
• Al Quaye III, Allegheny County, district winner
• Virginia Strain, Westmoreland County, first ballot, district winner
• Charles T. Konkus, Westmoreland County, first ballot, district winner
• John Thomas Petrarca, Westmoreland County, district winner
• Rick Saccone, Allegheny County, district winner “if it is decisive”
• Mary Jo Silvis, Westmoreland County, district winner
• Sue Ann Means, Allegheny County, Cruz, first ballot
• James R. Means, Allegheny County, Cruz, first ballot
• Thomas J. Uram, Washington County, Trump
Alternate delegate
Vote for not more than three
• Al Quaye III, Allegheny County, district winner
• Thomas J. Uram, Washington County, Trump
• John J. Wink, Allegheny County, not committed, will be checking results of the primary
• Laura J. Schisler, Allegheny County, not committed
• Lois Wolf-Geer, Westmoreland County, not committed
Staff writer Luke Campbell contributed to this report.