Seattle Times: Push for WA Dems to vote ‘uncommitted delegates’ picks up steam

By Jim Brunner

A campaign urging Democrats to vote “uncommitted [delegates]” in Washington’s March 12 presidential primary is rapidly gaining momentum amid protests over President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and worries about his ability to defeat Donald Trump this fall.

The uncommitted option was endorsed Wednesday night by a major state labor union, UFCW 3000, which represents more than 50,000 grocery workers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

The Stranger, Seattle’s progressive alternative newspaper, also backed the uncommitted vote in an editorial this week, calling it a way to “push” Biden to take a harder line on ending the devastation in Gaza.

Other supporters of the movement are planning a news conference on Monday to further promote the uncommitted option, said Rami Al-Kabra, a Bothell City Council member who has been working on the rapidly developing campaign.

The goal is to show dissatisfaction with Biden by electing delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer who are not pledged to Biden or any of his longshot rivals.

The push here has accelerated following Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, in which more than 100,000 voters — about 13% — picked the uncommitted option. Biden still easily won the state with more than 81% of the vote.