A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Of the roughly 4,000 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, 36 represent primary voters who cast ballots for uncommitted instead of for President Biden. Minnesota's sending the most of these. Clay Masters with Minnesota Public Radio has been speaking with some of them. Clay, these delegates were selected as a result of Democratic primary voters protesting Biden's handling of the war in Gaza, so how are they feeling now that Biden is stepping aside?
CLAY MASTERS, BYLINE: Yeah, good morning, A. I'd say it's a mixture of optimism combined with a great deal of responsibility. President Biden's policies on the Israel-Hamas war seemed like one of the greatest challenges to his campaign before his poor debate performance against Donald Trump last month. Long before the debate, protest votes really started in Michigan back in February, when voters organized and made their opposition known on their primary ballots, and then there was momentum to other states, like here in Minnesota. Nearly 20% of Democratic voters in the state chose uncommitted. Asma Mohammed helped organize the movement here and is a delegate going to the convention in Chicago next month, and she thinks there are Biden delegates who want a permanent cease-fire and now can talk about it.
ASMA MOHAMMED: I think right now, what we're asking for is an open convention so that people can, you know, share their ideas for what's happening in Gaza specifically so that people like me, delegates like me, and the thousands of cease-fire delegates - even Biden delegates who are cease-fire delegates - can come forward and say that they want to support a cease-fire.
MASTERS: And the uncommitted movement as a whole has also called for an end to the policy of supplying weapons to Israel.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Clay, considering that these uncommitted delegates have always kind of remained free agents, so to speak, I mean, are they open to Vice President Harris being the nominee?
MASTERS: At this point, they're not saying yes or no to Harris. The uncommitted delegates I've talked with say they don't want this to be an anointment, but have her be one of the candidates the delegates hear from, and see what kind of strategy she presents on the Middle East. We at MPR News reached out to all of the delegates from Minnesota going on to the DNC to ask who they'll support. Keep in mind, 64 of Minnesota's 75 delegates were pledged to Biden. A large share of those who we spoke with say they're now backing Harris. But Hassan Saffouri is an uncommitted delegate from Minnesota and summed things up this way.
HASSAN SAFFOURI: The reality was Joe Biden was going to become the nominee regardless of what we did and how we did it. We were just going to be able to raise some issues and bring them to people's attention. That part has now become more important.
MASTERS: So he feels a big responsibility because he has to discern what the will of the voters he represents would be in a situation like this. You know, choosing uncommitted meant they could not commit to President Biden. Well, now, A, Biden's not in the race, of course.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And Minnesota has had a decadeslong track record of voting for the Democratic presidential candidate. I mean, could Joe Biden dropping out of the race possibly change that track record?
MASTERS: Yeah. Polls have remained pretty close here between Biden and Trump, and you're right - Minnesota hasn't gone to a Republican presidential candidate for half a century. The Trump campaign has hired two top staffers in Minnesota, and they have plans to open eight field offices in the state. Add to that, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance will be here for a fundraiser this weekend. That's coming fresh off his acceptance of the Republican vice presidential nomination, so Republicans see an opportunity to take the momentum from their convention to a state where it, you know, could be an uphill battle to win. Meanwhile, a significant Democratic voting bloc in this state has shown they're concerned about the war in Gaza, and they'll be listening closely to what Vice President Harris has to say on this issue now that people are kind of lining up behind her.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. Minnesota Public Radio's Clay Masters. Clay, thank you.
MASTERS: You're welcome.
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