CHICAGO – While they were all gathered to officially launch their party’s ticket, delegates at this year’s Democratic National Convention had different reasons for being there.
Here are some of the issues that delegates said would drive their votes this November.
Democracy and freedom
For Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano, voting rights and election integrity issues are key. While the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a Republican-led effort to block 41,000 Arizona voters from casting a ballot, it allowed the state in some cases to require people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when they register to vote.
“In Arizona, Republicans see our state as a testing ground for these election conspiracy theories,” Bejarano said Monday. “It’s not good for business. It’s not good for our democracy, and we need to beat it.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin’s past roles as the lead manager in former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial and a member of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol influence what he sees as his top issues in the 2024 election.
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“The democracy and freedom question is central, and democracy and freedom are related to each other,” the Maryland Democrat said in an interview Monday. “The Trump cult has been trying to destroy both our democracy – taking away the voice of the people and majority rule through the Electoral College – and they’ve been trying to take away our freedom.”
Forrest Genthner, a pastor and Maine delegate, shared his concerns about the rise of Christian nationalism.
“We need to be able to show that the Republican Party is not the party of Christian values,” Genthner said Monday. “Jesus taught free will [and] tolerance. I don’t see those in the Republican Party. Here at the Democratic Party, I’ve seen people of different faiths, different ethnicities, different sexualities be able to come together.”
Israel-Hamas war and calls for a cease-fire
Abbas Alawieh, the co-founder of the national “Uncommitted” movement, said in an interview Sunday that the country needs a change in its policy toward the Israel-Hamas war.
“The 30 uncommitted delegates who have been sent here, in unprecedented [and] historic terms, are here to lift up the voices of voters nationally who are saying we need a different approach,” Alawieh said.
Another delegate who is part of the “Uncommitted” movement, Rory Strahan-Mauk of Hawaii, said he is looking for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to reject President Joe Biden’s approach to the Israel-Hamas War.
“It would show to me that that is met, that coming out is something you actually believe in, because this is not something that can be had discussions, back-channel discussions, and say, ‘Oh, trust us. We’re trying to make it better. We’re trying to get a cease-fire,’” Strahan-Mauk said Tuesday. “We need to see that happen. We need to see the actions being taken.”
Character
But for other delegates, it’s neither policy proposals nor issues up for debate in Washington that are driving their votes. To West Virginia delegate Kathryn Prather, Harris’ character is what matters most.
“I really want to have someone I can actually look up to in the Oval Office,” she said Wednesday. “Harris is someone that clearly looks out for others that are not as fortunate as herself.”
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