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Other late-deciding superdelegates coalesce around Obama
When Maria Chapelle-Nadal announced on June 3 that she was pledging her superdelegate vote to Barack Obama, it was the final day of the state-by-state primary process. Several other Missouri Democrats who are superdelegates and had been slow to announce their intentions also made similar announcements and coalesced around Obama as the Democrats’ presidential contender.
Jay Nixon, the state’s attorney general and a gubernatorial candidate, said he is for Obama, as did state Democratic Party chairman John Temporiti and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. As the state’s top elections official, Carnahan had generally stayed out of the fray, but her decision was not a surprise given that her brother, Congressman Russ Carnahan, and her mother, Jean Carnahan, the former senator, have been campaigning for Obama.
Former U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt is also a superdelegate and he declared his allegiance to Hillary Clinton early on. Former Kansas City mayor and current congressman Emmanuel Cleaver II also backed Clinton.
Rep. William “Lacy” Clay Jr. has been a visible supporter of Obama since the early months of the primary campaign. His political organization is concentrated in North St. Louis City and North St. Louis County, and has roots in the area since his father first won the congressional seat in 1969. A get-out-the-vote effort directed by Clay has been credited with making the difference in narrowly tipping the state toward Obama in its primary in February, a race most commentators expected Clinton to win.
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