Mitch Perry
It came down to South Carolina, which put Hillary Clinton over the top in delegates to become the first woman nominated by a major political party in U.S. history.
It happened at 6:40 p.m. EST inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, home of the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Yet it wasn’t recognized at the time inside the convention hall, so there was no immediate outburst from Clinton supporters.
Approximately 14 minutes later it was, when Bernie Sanders took the mic to announced that he wanted to suspend the rules and nominate Clinton by acclamation as the party’s nominee. Then bedlam ensued, and the house band played Pharrell Williams‘ “Happy.”
Both candidates had three people put the two candidates’ names in for nomination.
For the Sanders camp, it was kicked off by Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who called the Sanders juggernaut a “movement of love.”
Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski was the first to put Clinton’s name in nomination. She noted that the former secretary of state and New York senator would be someone would “fight for the macro issues and the macaroni and cheese issues.”
There were several emotional moments as representatives from various states announced their delegate vote tally, none more so than when a tearful Larry Sanders, in the name of their parents, casts his delegate vote for his brother, Bernie.
Sanders said his parents “loved the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt and would be especially proud that Bernard is renewing that vision.”
Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant announced Florida’s delegate totals: 163 for Clinton, 72 for Sanders (she defeated him by more than 30 percentage points in the state’s March presidential primary).
