Trevor Doiron, 17, of Jay may not be of voting age, but he’ll be among 30 Maine Democrats who are expected to help nominate the party’s presidential candidate at the national convention in Philadelphia.
Doiron, a Spruce Mountain High School student, will hold the distinction of being the youngest male delegate at the convention.
“I’m very excited,” he said Friday night. “It just kind of started to set in that I’m going to the national convention, so my excitement level was through the roof.”
In Maine, 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by Election Day in November are allowed to vote in primaries.
Doiron’s interest in politics took root in 2008 when a neighbor recruited him to help erect campaign signs.
“It kind of ignited an interest I never knew I had,” he said. Elective office has always been a goal, he said. “I got involved in politics and community activism to help people. And if I find that running for public office helps me achieve that goal, then that’s what I’ll be doing.”
Doiron is getting a taste of what it’s like to hold office: He’s serving a one-year term as president of the Maine National Honor Society.
At the convention, he’s one of eight Maine delegates pledged to Clinton compared to 17 pledged delegates for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders from Maine’s March party caucuses. Of Maine’s five superdelegates, four are committed to Clinton and one to Sanders.
Phil Bartlett, Maine Democratic Party chairman, said Friday the rules committee for the convention is expected to complete its work over the weekend and put formal adoption up for a floor vote on Monday.
“I would expect a robust discussion around the superdelegate issue,” Bartlett said. Sanders and his supporters panned the inclusion of superdelegates in primary delegate counts, claiming they skewed state primary and caucus outcomes.
The Maine Democratic Party passed a resolution at its state convention earlier this year calling for the elimination of superdelegates. And until they are eliminated, a rule change passed for the party would require superdelegates to state their preferences before the state convention, then reallocate them so that they represent the state total going into the national convention, Bartlett said.
A party platform has been constructed of planks that Bartlett characterized as the most progressive in party history.
He predicted a convention that would stand in stark contrast to the “very divisive and very hostile” Republican National Convention that concluded Thursday in Cleveland.
“I think you’ll see a much more positive view of the future than what the GOP offered,” he said.
Unlike at the Republican convention where U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, runner-up for the nomination, declined to endorse party nominee Donald Trump, Sanders already has and is expected to again endorse Clinton on Monday night as the party nominee.
“I would expect (Sanders) to continue talking, as he did when he endorsed (Clinton), not only about why Trump is bad for America, but equally important, why Hillary is a strong choice. I’m looking forward to that speech,” Bartlett said.
“I think it’s important because Bernie has brought a lot to the table in terms of the issues he’s been fighting for,” Bartlett said. “And he speaks very eloquently to how Hillary Clinton advances those priorities.”
Maine’s delegation will be in the same hotel as delegates from Vermont and New Hampshire. Mainers, including party staff, plan to meet over breakfast every morning at their hotel for scheduling purposes and guest speakers.
Delegates will cast their votes Tuesday during the roll call of the states.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
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