August 11, 2000

Democratic Convention Will Nominate a Team to Fight for Working Families

NASHVILLE, Aug. 10 — Next week, Americans from across the spectrum will nominate Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman to be the presidential and vice presidential nominees for the Democratic Party. Democratic National Convention delegates continue to reflect America's diversity of age, gender, occupation, race and religion. Regardless of these differences, our delegates have one goal — to nominate the Gore-Lieberman ticket to go the distance in their fight for working families.

More than 5,500 convention delegates will gather in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention. The delegates encompass various occupations: nurses, farmers, firefighters and homemakers. They are an honest representation of America.

— 15 percent of the delegates are over the age of 65.
— 23 percent are union workers.
— 36 percent are persons of color.

A Few of our Many Notable Delegates:

— Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States, delegate from Georgia

— Walter Mondale, former vice president of the United States, delegate from Minnesota

— Sandra Feldman, President of the American Federation of Teachers

— James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute

— Delores Huerta, First Vice President and Co-Founder of the United Farmworkers Union

— Lois DeBerry, House Speaker Pro Tempore Tennessee General Assembly

— George Becker, President of the Steelworkers

— Donna Brazile, Gore 2000 Campaign Manager

— Debra DeLee, Americans for Peace Now

All Democratic Governors and Members of Congress attend convention as voting delegates.

A Few Interesting Delegates:

— Fred Gray (Tuskegee, Ala.) is an Alabama civil rights lawyer, who has dedicated his life to fighting for social justice.

— Annie Betancourt (Miami, Fla.) oversees three 21st Century community learning centers in Miami-Dade County.

— Alice Harris (Los Angeles, Calif.) saw the revitalization of her Watts community under the current Administration.

— Marion Helland (Golden Valley, Minn.) received the Minnesota Martin Luther King Jr. "Dream Keeper" award.

— Barbara "Bobbie" Hat-field (South Charleston, W. Va.) received state and federal grants that enabled her to run a pilot program to dispense prescription drugs to people living in poverty.

— Chris Peterson (Clear Lake, Iowa) is an independent family farmer, whose family lives and works without health insurance.

— Monica Lindeen (Huntley, Mont.) founded an Internet business to bring local internet service to rural areas in Montana.

— Vilma Luna (Corpus Christie, Texas) is a Texas State Representative who is familiar with the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

— Barbara Norton (Shreveport, La.) founded a gun safety group called Concerned Citizens of Shreveport.

— William Lavelle (Athens, Ohio) was a delegate in Los Angeles for John F. Kennedy's nomination in 1960.

— James L. Cherry (Lilburn, Ga.) is an advocate for Americans with disabilities and lobbied for passage of Georgia's Voting Poll Access law.

— George McKinney (Milwaukee, Wis.) led a busload of seniors on a drive to Canada to buy more affordable prescription drugs.

— Bethine Church (Boise, Idaho) is the widow of Senator Frank Church, who gave the keynote address at the 1960 Convention in Los Angeles.

— Sandi Jackson (Ill.) is the wife of Jesse Jackson, Jr.,
Congressman, and credits Tipper Gore for helping her through a very difficult time.

— Kelly Candaele (Los Angeles, Calif.) wrote A League of Her Own, based on his mother's life.

— Marlene Davis (St. Louis, Mo.) is the President of the
St. Louis School Board and traveled to Iowa to caucus for Gore.

Oldest delegate: Alma Osborne (2/9/12) New York, N.Y.
Youngest delegate: Thomas Santaniello (8/28/82) Spartan-burg, S.C. Average Age: 51
Largest Delegation: California (547)
Smallest Delegation: Virgin Islands (13)

Of the 4,402 delegates (79 percent) who listed an occupation, 7 percent were educators (teachers, college professors, principals, etc.); 10 percent were lawyers; 23 percent were union members 23 percent; and 9 percent were retirees.

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