Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Says Convention Delegate Blocking Is Racially Motivated; Doug Jones Calls It ‘Trump-Style’ Rhetoric

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley released a letter Monday night that he sent to the head of the Democratic National Committee, saying the reason his preferred convention delegates were not approved by the national organization was because of racism.

In the letter, Kelley also alleged that former Senator Doug Jones “orchestrated” a “conspiracy to prevent black people from electing DNC delegates of their choice.”

Jones, who previously told AL.com that he had nothing to do with President Biden’s initial decision to decline a certain number of delegates but helped the campaign decide who should serve as replacement delegates, dismissed the claims as “complete nonsense.”

“This challenge is completely without merit because it is based on false Trump-style rhetoric, not facts,” the former senator told AL.com in an email.

He argued that Kelley and the chairman’s main ally, Vice Chairman for Minority Affairs Joe Reed, are taking on the challenge “because they have not had the ability to select and control the delegation through their support.”

“Everyone knows that this is what their so-called ‘challenge’ is all about – their power and control,” the senator said.

“They have consistently tried to suppress the diverse voices of the Democratic electorate in order to maintain control and power. It is shameful that they continue to try to divide Democrats by race when we have so much energy, enthusiasm and unity for the Harris/Walz ticket…”

In an Aug. 2 letter to DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison — who, like Kelley, is black — the Alabama party chairman said the party “is filing this petition only because it has no choice. Its very existence and future progress are at stake. This is a race issue.”

The letter, Kelley wrote, was an attempt to challenge the DNC’s decision to deny seats to 36 convention delegates chosen by Kelley and other members of the state party’s executive committee.

Attempts to contact the DNC for comment were not immediately returned.

Before President Biden withdrew from the race, his campaign endorsed a slate of delegates that was noticeably different from the slate chosen by the state Democratic party.

Of the 34 district delegates, the Biden campaign has endorsed only 13 names.

The campaign also endorsed five of the nine party leadership and elected official (PLEO) positions on the party’s state slate, two of the 11 popularly elected delegates and one of the four alternates, according to lists released by the Democratic Party of Alabama.

The state party was scheduled to elect PLEOs, general delegates and alternate delegates on June 8. However, the party did not reach a quorum at that day’s meeting, so the state delegation made the selections for those positions, according to a DNC statement.

If a delegate was not approved, the Biden campaign selected a replacement. The district-level delegates chosen by the campaign were on the ballot and voted in March.

Kelley said he filed the challenge because the DNC “enabled private individuals to deprive black Alabamians of the right to vote in the March 5 Democratic primary.”

Kelley was referring to Jones, who he said was among the Democrats “who don’t want black people to choose delegates of their own choosing” and claimed Jones appointed delegates approved by the DNC.

Meanwhile, Harrison informed Kelley in a letter sent this month that the state party had missed a deadline to challenge delegates or elect its delegates because the party’s executive committee had not reached a quorum.

In the letter, obtained by AL.com, the DNC chairman urged Kelley to “refrain from further misunderstanding and disinformation to convention attendees.”

The tensions between the Alabama Democratic Party and the national party are nothing new. Five years ago, Jones, then in the Senate and backed by the DNC, joined the state party’s caucus to approve new statutes and replace longtime chairwoman Nancy Worley, a Reed ally, with State Representative Chris England.

Control returned in 2022 when the state Democratic Executive Committee Kelley elected chairman With Reed’s support and the Alabama Democratic Conference.

Undeterred by Harrison’s letter, Kelley issued a press release and the text of his challenge to the Democratic National Committee on Monday evening.

He argued that the party’s elections in Alabama are being ignored because the state party and state executive committee are majority black.

“Alabama asks… to be respected and treated fairly – with the same rights and respect you expect from your state,” Kelley wrote. “Because we have a black president and a black majority in the state of Alabama, we continue to expect to be treated fairly. Alabama has HE ENDURED (emphasis in original) enough!”