Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is accusing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) of favoring Hillary Clinton by giving her supporters more committee representation at the party’s July nominating convention.
In a Friday letter to DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sanders said he was disappointed to see that of 45 people he recommended to serve on three standing committees, only three were selected.
{mosads}He also noted that none of his supporters was assigned to the “very important” rules committee, which will dictate procedure for the convention.
“If we are to have a unified party in the fall, no matter who wins the nomination, we cannot have a Democratic National Convention in which the views of millions of people who participated in the Democratic nominating process are unrepresented in the committee membership appointed by you, the Chair,” Sanders wrote.
“That sends the very real message that the Democratic party is not open to the millions of new people that our campaign has brought into the political process, does not want to hear new voices, and is unwilling to respect the broader base of people that this party needs to win over in November and beyond.”
Sanders said if the disagreement over committee appointments isn’t resolved, he would mobilize his delegates to change the platform on the floor of the convention.
“There are already over 9 million voters who, during this nominating process, have indicated that they want to go beyond establishment politics and establishment economics — and want to transform our country with bold initiatives. I will not allow them be silenced at the Democratic National Convention,” he wrote.
Sanders’s chances of winning the Democratic nomination over Clinton are slim; he would need landslide victories in all of the remaining primary elections and the support of more superdelegates.
Sanders won the Indiana primary Tuesday, adding 44 delegates to his total, but Clinton also won 38, allowing her to maintain a large lead.
Clinton has 1,683 pledged delegates to Sanders’s 1,362, according to The Associated Press.
In the letter, Sanders also called for more representation on the party’s platform drafting committee. Each campaign is permitted four supporters while the DNC picks an additional seven.
Sanders argued for each campaign picking seven members for the committee with the 15th member being picked by both campaigns.
In response to the letter, the DNC released a statement saying both campaigns will be represented on the drafting committee, “just as we did in 2008 and 2012.”
“Because the Party’s platform is a statement of our values, the DNC is committed to an open, inclusive and representative process,” the DNC statement continued. “The public will have opportunities to participate.”