Chris Collins
Bernie Sanders pulled off a crucial, commanding win in Wisconsin’s primary Tuesday. And he did it without the support of most Democratic state elected officials, who are still backing Hillary Clinton.
“I think that the vast majority of Democrats in the state Legislature have decided to endorse and support [Clinton],” says state Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison). “Much of that comes from [seeing Clinton] as somebody who has years of experience coming in ready to hit the ground running.”
Madison Reps. Chris Taylor and Terese Berceau are also among the current and former elected officials supporting the former secretary of state. Berceau, who knocked on doors for Clinton in the days leading up to the primary, says she didn’t experience any hostility from her Sanders-supporting constituents. But she’s aware of the anger toward elected officials who are Clinton supporters. She says she’s frustrated with the “the level to which progressives have been willing to cut each other down and just be derisive towards each other.”
“I do get a little bit stressed about it,” Berceau says. “We’ve got to come together and quit being nasty.”
Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont, won Wisconsin easily. Pundits called the race in his favor shortly after the polls closed, and when the votes were tallied, he was up by 13 points. In Dane County he won 63% of the vote. And in Madison, he won all but four of the city’s 111 precincts.
While state politicians have fallen in line behind Clinton, local officials have been more willing to side with Sanders and the Wisconsin electorate. Madison Ald. Marsha Rummel, Dane County Board Supv. Heidi Wegleitner and Mayor Paul Soglin are among those supporting the democratic socialist.
Wegleitner says it’s “not particularly surprising” that Clinton has racked up endorsements among state and federal elected officials in Wisconsin and around the country.
“I think there’s a sort of party machinery and loyalty that works to her advantage,” Wegleitner says. “But on the local level, we’re by definition nonpartisan in our offices. We’re more removed and have maybe more independence for that reason.”
Many Sanders supporters see that “party machinery” as symptomatic of a corrupt political system that reinforces the establishment’s status quo. The prime example of this is the Democrats’ superdelegate system, which allows high-ranking party members to vote for whichever candidate they want, regardless of who won the primary. Six of Wisconsin’s 10 superdelegates have sworn allegiance to Clinton; the four remaining superdelegates are unpledged.
Steve Roanhaus, a Sanders supporter from Madison, says the superdelegate system carries the risk of “usurping our democracy.” He’s disappointed in elected officials who continue to back Clinton after the majority of constituents cast ballots for Sanders.
“It seems dishonest to the process,” Roanhaus said at the Sanders campaign victory party in Madison Tuesday night. “It’s arrogant to think that the superdelegates’ vote should be worth more than our own.”
Erika Steinbauer, a Sanders supporter from Milwaukee at the same campaign event, says she’s “disappointed” with elected officials who continue to support Clinton after Sanders’ Wisconsin victory.
“This election showed that the people of Wisconsin want Bernie Sanders to be their next president,” Steinbauer says. “For [politicians] to continue to be behind Clinton is pretty frustrating.”
But Karla Stoebig, a Sanders supporter from Madison, points out that the Democratic National Committee created superdelegates for a reason — they provide an establishment-backed check to the voters and help ensure that the nominee will be viable in the general election.
“I bet the Republicans would love to have superdelegates right about now,” she says.
Stoebig, who has served as a Democratic Party delegate in previous elections and plans to do so again this year, has advice for people frustrated with the DNC’s superdelegate system: “If you don’t like it, get involved and change it.”