With the spotlight shining down and millions of eyes watching, New Hampshire Democratic Party delegates took turns at the microphone to read aloud their roll call vote in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena.
The results were split down the middle; 16 delegates for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, another 16 for former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. It marked the first time since 1992 the New Hampshire delegation was divided; they typically vote unanimously in favor of the presumptive nominee.
Though the vote was split, Sanders and Clinton delegates made a move toward unity earlier in the day.
On Tuesday morning, Sanders delegates caucused privately for about an hour before announcing they would cast their ballots for Sanders at the convention but would vote for Clinton during the general election.
“All of us decided that we would continue to represent the will and the vote of the citizens of New Hampshire by casting every vote of the Bernie delegates for Bernie tonight,” said state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, the only superdelegate to vote for Sanders. “But we wanted to also add to that statement that, unanimously, the Bernie delegates are committed to returning to New Hampshire to carry on the revolution that was started by Sen. Sanders.”
Many Sanders delegates are already showing their commitment. Delegate Mark King of Nashua said he plans to run for state representative this fall, inspired by the “political revolution.”
“The senator inspired me to step up to the plate,” he said. “He’s planted a seed and it will just keep growing.”
Fellow delegate and Concord lawyer Andru Volinsky is running for the Executive Council to infuse that office with the values inspired by Sanders.
It took a couple of days of meeting with party leaders and discussing the issue among themselves before the Sanders delegates came to their decision.
Right up until Tuesday morning, some had expressed serious doubts about Clinton’s electability and alternated between anger and sadness after leaked DNC emails showed some high-level party officials had discussed ways they could damage Sanders’s presidential bid.
But after Sanders made it clear he was throwing his support behind Clinton on Monday night, the New Hampshire delegates followed suit.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Rules Committee member Germano Martins of Hooksett said he was pleased to see the delegation stick with Sanders right up until the end.
“It’s important for them to know we’re serious about a political revolution,” he said. “Had we abandoned those values it would have been virtually impossible to bring on board (for) victory in November.”
Martins said he is hopeful for a Democratic victory in November but added that members of his party cannot “sit on their laurels” in the fight against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“We cannot, under any circumstances, lose that election in November,” he said.
Not all Sanders supporters at the Democratic National Committee shared the New Hampshire delegation’s sentiment.
On Tuesday, after Clinton’s nomination was made official, dozens of Sanders protesters stormed the media hall to silently protest, black fabric covering their mouths. Some cried. Others held signs declaring “Never Hillary.”
While Martins said he’s planning to actively support Clinton in the fall, he was still dismayed to see her campaign bringing on ex-DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for a high-level volunteer position.
“I don’t believe we need that kind of handicap,” Martins said, calling Wasserman Schultz’s involvement in Clinton’s campaign serious “baggage.”
But Martins also sees progress coming out of the convention. He and fellow rules committee member Maine state Rep. Diane Russell championed the creation of a study commission to consider abolishing superdelegates.
Russell was the first one in the nation to introduce the measure.
“We couldn’t change it at the national level if we hand’t done something on the local level,” Russell said.
Sanders won the New Hampshire primary with 60 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Clinton. He won 15 pledged delegates and Clinton won nine. But with seven of the state’s eight superdelegates – all high level party leaders – supporting Clinton, the state’s delegate count ended in a tie.
Russell said some of the conversations about the power of superdelegates and party officials during the convention have been difficult ones. But she also believes they’re necessary.
“We have to own it, we have to talk about it,” she said. “I’m glad this conversation is happening. We are not brushing it under the rug.”
(Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen.)