Quick Take
The timing of President Joe Biden's departure from his reelection bid means choosing the next Democratic presidential nominee will be up to 3,949 Democratic delegates across the country, not party primary voters. Three of those delegates live in Santa Cruz County. Who are they?
Of the 51,365 Santa Cruz County voters who cast ballots selecting their preferred Democratic presidential ticket in March, only three now matter.
Lani Faulkner, Tony Russomanno and Nelly Vaquera-Boggs.
President Joe Biden’s decision on Sunday to end his bid for reelection, only 107 days before Election Day, means choosing the 2024 Democratic ticket will no longer be up to Democratic primary voters and direct democracy. With the Democratic National Convention set for the week of Aug. 19, there is no time to stand up a lightning primary, or for new candidates to launch primary campaigns. Instead, the choice will be left to the party’s 3,949 national delegates. It’s a moment without precedent in U.S. politics.
Faulkner, Russomanno and Vaquera-Boggs, all Santa Cruz County residents, are three of the six delegates from the 19th Congressional District, who will get to vote their preference for the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. Faulkner is a transit activist who launched an unsuccessful bid in March for the District 1 county supervisor seat against incumbent Manu Koenig. Russomanno is a longtime party man and former NBC News journalist who has run communications for the county’s Democratic Central Committee. Vaquera-Boggs is president of the teachers union in Pajaro Valley Unified School District.
Lookout spoke with Faulkner and Russomanno this week. After our several attempts to reach Vaquera-Boggs, she said via email she could not make herself available, as she is attending a national conference for the teachers union.
Earlier this year, Faulkner, Russomanno and Vaquera-Boggs filled out applications to be a CA-19 delegate at the Democratic National Convention. The 19th Congressional District, represented by Jimmy Panetta, stretches from the northern reaches of Santa Cruz County and the southern part of Santa Clara County, down along the coast and into San Luis Obispo County. Faulkner, Russomanno and Vaquera-Boggs were three of 16 applicants who pledged support for Biden. Once Biden won the primary, the Biden campaign organized a quiet, but open, party vote in each congressional district on April 21 to choose the delegates. Faulkner received 190 votes; Russomanno 98 votes. They were the top female and male vote-getters, respectively.
Russomanno said he held no expectation of winning. The only person he told about his application was local Democratic Central Committee Chair Andrew Goldenkranz. With Biden the presumptive nominee, both men figured the process would mostly be mechanical.
“But I told Andrew, there is a very, very small chance that this convention will be very, very important,” Russomanno told Lookout.
In contrast, Faulkner campaigned for her spot as a delegate. She said it was part of her effort to get more involved politically at all levels of government. Still, she thought the Democratic delegate role in this election would be a small one.
“In most elections where the primary determines who is going to be on the ticket, it’s pretty rote,” Faulkner said. “To be a part of the process during this really unique time is a process of learning. I’m looking forward to living through this process.”
Right now, however, the delegates have only one choice before them. Within an hour after Biden announced the end to his reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris said she was entering the race. Harris immediately picked up Biden’s endorsement, as well as those of a slew of other high-profile Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Less than 48 hours later, news came in that Harris’ presidential bid had already raised $81 million.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Harris had the verbal support of enough delegates to earn the nomination. Russomanno said he talked to a New York Times reporter from a team surveying the country’s delegates. He said, at this point, he plans to back Harris, and that he didn’t see how anyone could launch a meaningful campaign against her since many of the governors and senators seen as possible challengers have all endorsed the vice president.
Faulkner also said she plans to support Harris. However, if another candidate does make a bid to challenge the vice president, each individual delegate has the power to make their own decision when it’s time to vote.
“It’s my choice who to vote for [if there are multiple candidates],” Russomanno said. “The delegates are asked to vote their conscience.”
Yet, no matter the choice, it will look different than the options before the 51,365 Democratic voters in the county’s March primary, when the Biden/Harris ticket ran against the likes of Marianne Williamson, Dean Phillips and President R Boddie. So, how will Russomanno and Faulkner know they are representing local Democratic voters with their decision?
Faulkner said she plans to send out a newsletter and try to stay in contact with local voters leading up to the vote.
“I do recognize there is not a direct input from general voters in this decision,” Faulkner said. “In this case, it’s important for the delegates to keep their fingers on the pulse locally. But if Kamala and her running mate are the only names on the ticket, then the point is moot.”
Both delegates said they personally would like to see Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg as vice president; however, both acknowledged that a minority woman and gay man might not be a winning ticket among American voters, yet. They also offered more strategic names, all well-mentioned now in the national press, from battleground states: Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
Faulkner said what happens next is “a gray box.” The DNC’s rules committee will host a virtual meeting Wednesday at 11 a.m., which will be livestreamed on YouTube. The committee will lay out the next steps, and offer more clarity on when, exactly, the vote will be held. Russomanno and Faulkner said the delegates could end up selecting a ticket during a virtual, remote vote between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7, especially if Harris is the only name on the ticket; however, there is a chance that the party will wait and host a floor vote live at the convention during the week of Aug. 19.
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