CAMPAIGNS Delegate hopefuls dumped

A majority of the 17th District's delegate candidates were removed by Kerry.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
NILES -- John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, turned the tables on Democrats in the 17th Congressional District.
In January, district Democrats had little interest in serving as delegates for the junior U.S. senator from Massachusetts to the party's national convention. Only two people ran to be his delegates at the time, and only 12 people voted in Kerry's caucus, the smallest numbers for any Democrat running at the time in the state's presidential primary.
Now that he's going to be the party's presidential nominee, 29 people -- 16 men and 13 women -- filed paperwork to serve as his delegates.
Thanks, but no thanks was the reply from Kerry to most of them.
Removal
Kerry's campaign opted to remove nine of the men and nine of the women interested in serving as his delegates in the 17th District. Overall, Kerry's campaign removed about 30 delegate candidates from the state's 18 congressional districts, so a majority came from the 17th District.
In a letter to Ohio Democratic Chairman Dennis White, the co-chairmen of the Democratic National Committee wrote that Kerry's campaign has the "right to remove delegate candidates," and the state party is "obligated to implement" that plan even though it would be "awkward."
Officials with the DNC and Kerry's campaign, who asked that their names not be revealed, said the decision to remove the candidates was two-fold: first, they had no interest in people who supported other Democratic presidential candidates then jumped on the Kerry bandwagon, and Democratic bylaws require the party to include minorities, gays and young voters in certain percentages as convention delegates.
By ousting those who don't fit those profiles from consideration, the officials say, those percentages can be reached.
But that logic has left some confused.
The state's Democratic central committee will select 15 Kerry delegates and 12 delegates for U.S. Sen. John Edwards at a May 8 meeting in Columbus and could have met the percentages for minorities, gays and young voters then if they haven't already been reached.
"We don't know why they're doing this," said Dan Trevas, Ohio Democratic Party spokesman. "We aren't concerned about hitting the affirmative action component at all. We believe Ohioans who want to go to the convention should be given that chance."
If the Kerry campaign was looking for diversity in the 17th District, it got it Thursday during the post-primary delegate selection meeting at the Niles Middle School.
Who's in
Timothy Callion of Warren, a black Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396 member, was selected as Kerry's second male delegate. Austintown Trustee David Ditzler ran unopposed for a Kerry delegate position in January.
The male alternate for Kerry, selected Thursday, is Tristan-Paul J. Hand of Warren, a gay man who runs a tavern.
Kerry's second female delegate is Glorianne M. Leck of Youngstown, a gay woman and retired Youngstown State University professor. Judie J. Hartley of Warren was selected in January as a Kerry female delegate.
"This sends a message that Democrats are very inclusive," Hand said.
Leck, who wore a button that read, "Gay, Gray and Proud," agreed that this is a huge step for the Democratic Party. Leck was one of the 12 Kerry supporters in that small room in January.
Only 132 votes were cast in the 17th District caucus, compared with about 800 in January. About half of those votes were for delegates for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
The district includes portions of Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage and Summit counties. Unlike the preprimary caucus, there were hardly any people from Portage and Summit counties at Tuesday's meeting.
Disappointed
Whitney Kaster of Youngstown, one of the women removed from the delegate list by Kerry's campaign, said she was disappointed by the decision, but she plans to seek one of the at-large positions. Her father, Jim, is the congressional district's top Edwards delegate.
Based on the results of the March 2 primary, Kerry got two male delegates, two female delegates and a male alternate in the 17th while Edwards got one male delegate and two female delegates based on his showing even though he no longer is a candidate.
skolnick@vindy.com