Alabama Democratic Party chairman claims DNC didn’t OK his convention delegates because he’s Black

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Randy Kelley on Monday night released a letter he sent to the head of the Democratic National Committee, claiming racism was to blame for why his preferred convention delegates weren’t approved by the national organization.

In the letter, Kelley also claimed former Sen. Doug Jones “orchestrated” a “plot to prevent Blacks from electing delegates of their choosing to the DNC.”

Jones could not immediately be reached for comment.

Jones earlier told AL.com he wasn’t involved in Biden’s initial decision to deny a number of delegates but helped the campaign decide who should serve as replacement delegates.

“The Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) brings this petition only because it has no choice. Its existence and future progress are at stake. This is a race case,” Kelley wrote in an Aug. 2 letter to Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison, who like Kelley is Black.

The letter, Kelley wrote, served as a challenge to the DNC’s refusal to seat the 36 party convention delegates chosen by Kelley and other members of the state party’s executive committee.

Efforts to reach the DNC for comment were not immediately successful.

Before President Biden dropped out of the race, his campaign approved a list of delegates that was markedly different from the list elected by the state’s democratic party.

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

The campaign also approved five of the nine Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO) positions on the state party’s list, two of the 11 at-large delegates, and one of four alternates, according to lists provided by the Alabama Democratic Party.

The state party was supposed to elect PLEO, at-large and alternate delegates on June 8. However, the party failed to reach a quorum on their meeting that day, so the state’s delegation selected those positions, according to a statement by the DNC.

In the event a delegate was not approved, the Biden campaign selected a replacement. District-level delegates selected by the campaign were on the primary ballots and voted on in March.

Kelley said he brought the challenge because the DNC “enabled private individuals to deny Blacks in Alabama the right to vote in the Democratic primary” on March 5.

Kelley was referring to Jones, who he claimed was among the Democrats “who do not want Blacks to elect delegates of their choosing” and alleged Jones appointed the DNC-approved delegates.

Meanwhile, Harrison told Kelley in a letter this month that the state party missed the deadline to challenge the delegates or to select its delegates after the party’s executive committee failed to reach a quorum.

In the letter, obtained by AL.com, the DNC chairman urged Kelley to “[r]efrain from any further miscommunication or misinformation to convention participants.”

Friction between the Alabama Democratic Party and the national party is not new. Five years ago, Jones, then in the Senate and backed by the DNC, joined with a faction of the state party to approve new by-laws and replace longtime Chairman Nancy Worley, a Reed ally, with state Rep. Chris England.

Control flipped back in 2022 when the State Democratic Executive Committee elected Kelley as chairman with the backing of Reed and the Alabama Democratic Conference.

Undeterred by Harrison’s letter, Kelley issued a news release and text of his challenge to the DNC on Monday night.

He claimed the Alabama party’s choices are being neglected because the state party and state executive committee are majority black.

“Alabama asks .. that it be respected and treated right — with the same rights and respect as you would want for your state,” Kelley wrote. “Because we have a Black chair and a Black majority in the state of Alabama, we still expect to be treated fairly. Alabama has ENDURED [emphasis original] enough!”