House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged party unity Thursday, but would not say if superdelegates should back the party’s front-runner heading into the convention in July.
When asked at her weekly press conference if the superdelegates should be committed to the frontrunner if that candidate only has a plurality of votes, the California Democrat declined to answer.
“That’s not even the issue. The person who will be nominated will be the person who has a majority plus one,” she said. “That may happen before they even get to the convention, but we’ll see. The people will speak.”
With a slew of wins in early primary states, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont appears to be the frontrunner heading into the vital Super Tuesday.
The far-left senator’s momentum has spooked several moderate House Democrats from swing districts, who are concerned his controversial progressive policies will alienate voters in the upcoming election.
Mrs. Pelosi downplayed those concerns Thursday and stressed that while the party will support whoever wins the nomination, but also carved out some distance between her caucus and the 2020 race.
“Our responsibility is to win the House,” she said. “The presidential is its own race. And contrary to what you may be hearing or writing, we are all unified.”
“It’s not unusual for the House of Representatives to have its own agenda as well,” she added.
The Democratic National Committee is meeting with House Democrats on Thursday about superdelegates, but Mrs. Pelosi said the briefing is a “housekeeping” matter.
“Don’t read too much into it,” she said. “It’s really just a reading of the rules…The rules are very clear — the person who will be nominated for president will be the person who has a majority of the votes.”
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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