Kucinich increases national delegate count by more than 62 percent this week
The following is a press release from May 22, 2004, by the Kucinich campaign
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Kucinich increases national delegate count by more than 62 percent this week
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2004
Contact: Matt Harris, 216.403.3980, media@kucinich.us
It was the biggest single week of the primary campaign season for Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as the four-term Congressman from Ohio picked up an additional 25 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July.
Before Tuesday's primary election in Oregon, Kucinich had won 40 national delegates. With a final tally of almost 17 percent of the vote in Oregon, Kucinich picked up at least eight more. And in state conventions in Maine, Colorado and Alaska, Kucinich added an additional 17 national delegates.
Going into the Maine state Democratic convention on Saturday, Kucinich had 14 percent of the February caucus votes and no national delegates. But after delivering a speech described as "electrifying" by former Maine House of Representatives Speaker Michael Saxl, Kucinich ended the day with 25 percent of Maine’s Democratic vote and six national delegates. The speech drew huge and frequent bursts of approval and standing ovations from the entire statewide delegation, man of whom had previously pledged to support other candidates who dropped out since the winter caucuses.
According to an Associated Press account of the event "Rep. Dennis Kucinich temporarily made the Democratic State Convention his own with a highly charged attack on the first-term record of Republican President George W. Bush."
"Hello, Maine," he began in a soaring speech marked with trademark populist appeals, "are we ready to unite this party to victory in November? You bet we are," the AP reported.
At the same time, Kucinich told hundreds of Democratic activists inside the Cumberland County Civic Center that one question from the primary and caucus season was still to be answered. "It is, what we want the Democratic Party to stand for," he said as sign-toting, cheering demonstrators mobbed the front of the arena stage and jammed a center aisle.
In Colorado, Kucinich nearly tripled his delegate count at the state Democratic convention Saturday – from five in last month's caucuses to a total of 14 after final balloting today.
Kucinich’s percentage of the statewide vote also went from about 13 percent in April to almost 30 percent when delegates were done voting today.
Even his strongest support in the state got stronger. Boulder County Democrats, who had earlier given him a 51 percent majority, today boosted that percentage to more than 55 percent, according to county Kucinich co-chairman Walt Kramarz.
The state convention also adopted as part of its platform Kucinich's proposal to establish a federal Department of Peace.
In Alaska, Kucinich had previously received about 26.5 percent of the vote and five national delegates from the precinct-level caucuses. At Alaska's state Democratic Convention today, Kucinich picked up two additional delegates. Out of a total 18 possible delegates in Alaska, Kucinich garnered seven delegates to Senator Kerry's eight (Alaska has three uncommitted super delegates).
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