A spokeswoman for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday said the campaign is “cautiously hopeful” that the Democratic nomination process will be fair in 2020, citing reforms that were made after 2016.
“All we can be is cautiously hopeful that the process will be fair and reforms were made after 2016, which helped the process be more fair,” Briahna Joy Gray, a national press secretary for Sanders’s White House campaign, told Hill.TV.
“There are a lot more eyes on the process and a lot more skepticism than there was going into last year or last time around, so that will help,” she continued. “But additionally, it’s just a lot harder to put your finger on the scale when there’s someone who is actually coming into the race in a leadership position and coming into the primaries in a leadership position.”
Following a bitter race between Sanders and Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primaries, the DNC introduced a number of reforms to the party’s nomination process. This included limiting the role of superdelegates in choosing the party’s presidential nominee.
Under the reform passed in 2018, superdelegates — including lawmakers, former presidents and other party officials — are prevented from voting during the first ballot of the nomination process. The reform marked a significant move for the DNC, given that Clinton basically secured the 2016 nomination early in the process in large part to the support of the superdelegates.
The Sanders campaign has nevertheless continued to raise concerns over the nomination process, claiming unfair media coverage. Gray echoed this sentiment in her interview with Hill.TV, saying that Sanders doesn’t get as much coverage when he’s performing favorably.
“We’re still getting articles that talk about other candidates surging when they have in fact declined and us maintaining when in fact surging,” she told Hill.TV. “In fact, we have had a slow and steady increase over time.”
According to polling aggregate website RealClearPolitics, Sanders averages 19.3 support nationally, trailing former Vice President Joe Biden who is at 29.8 percent.
However, an Emerson poll released last week shows Sanders in a tie with Biden, each receiving 27 percent support among voters across the country.
— Tess Bonn
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