By Lindsay Fiori
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, July 21, 2008 12:00 am
Members of Wisconsin's Democratic Party will vote Friday on the delegate status of Debra Bartoshevich, a Democratic National Convention delegate from Waterford who has publicly supported Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Bartoshevich is expected to lose her delegate credentials, said Marilyn Nemeth, a representative from Mount Pleasant who serves on the committee that will cast the deciding votes.
The party's Administrative Committee will hold a conference call Friday to discuss a formal challenge against Bartoshevich. She will be given time to tell her side of the story and committee members will vote to maintain or remove her delegate
status.
"If they decide to strip me of my status, they decide to do something un-American," Bartoshevich said. "It's not democracy. It doesn't stand for unity, which the party wants."
The challenge against Bartoshevich was filed with the Credentials Committee of the DNC, who referred the issue back to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said Rachel Strauch-Nelson, communications director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
"They reviewed it and said it was within our authority to make a decision on it," she said.
The Administrative Committee leads the Democratic Party statewide and has 39 members, including representatives from each of Wisconsin's congressional districts and all state DNC members. Committee members will have a majority vote during Friday's conference call, Nelson said.
"Nobody has called me regarding the conference call," Bartoshevich said Monday afternoon. "I would think they would have notified me either by letter or phone. If it's Friday, I don't think that really gives a lot of time for preparation, especially for someone like me who works full time."
Bartoshevich announced in June that she would vote for
McCain in November instead of presumptive DNC presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.
Bartoshevich's statements prompted a response from state Democrats, who filed a formal challenge against her with the DNC. The Wisconsin Democratic Party alleged Bartoshevich violated a DNC rule requiring delegates to support the party's nominee and not any other
candidate.
Bartoshevich responded with a letter July 8 to the DNC Credentials Committee.
"My goal was to go to the convention and support Hillary Clinton," Bartoshevich said. "She has not suspended her delegates. I'm looking at it as I still have a job to do. I want to keep my delegate status to support her."
If stripped of her delegate status, Bartoshevich will be replaced by Nemeth, who was the next highest vote getter in the caucus where delegates were selected.
"I hate to see this happen to (Bartoshevich)," Nemeth said. "I think she didn't quite understand what she was signing when she signed (the Call to Convention). You can still support Hillary, but you have to remember you are going to agree with whatever the majority says."
Nemeth said she would be happy to fulfill Bartoshevich's delegate role.
"I'm happy to go because this is history," she said.