Roberts elected as unpledged delegate; Kardon conceded in name of party unity

Former Oregon governor and Barack Obama supporter Barbara Roberts will be attending her eighth and possibly final Democratic convention after Josh Kardon removed his name from the list of candidates for Oregon's unpledged delegate at the Democratic State Convention on Saturday.

"Nobody knows more about men trying to push you out of a race than Barbara Roberts," Kardon told the 300 Democrats gathered at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. "So I'm asking for a unanimous vote for our former governor, and our greatest Democrat, Barbara Roberts."

As party rules state, Oregon Democratic Party Chair Meredith Wood Smith nominated two candidates for the unpledged delegate position, and those attending the convention were to choose between them. Wood Smith nominated one supporter from the Obama camp, Roberts, and one from the Hillary Clinton camp, Kardon, due to the hard-fought presidential primary campaign.

"It was the first time that Josh and I have been on opposite sides in a primary," Roberts said.

Oregon Democrats were gathered to select the final 19 delegates to represent the state at this summer's Democratic National Convention. Six are Democratic Party officials, twelve come from a caucus vote and one is voted on by the entire convention.

Roberts, Oregon's governor from 1991-1995, and a declared Obama supporter since April, addressed the crowd after Kardon and thanked the gathering for its support. She drew several boos when she suggested that this year's convention may be the last one she attends, but then the crowd gave a standing ovation after she implored them to make sure that they were working for all Oregon democrats.

"I want to say to the delegates that we have to work to get Democrats elected up and down the ticket," Roberts said. "When we come home, our job is to start working at the top of the ballot all the way down for every Democrat on the ticket."

The vote then went to the floor, and Roberts won unanimously. She will travel with the 64 other Oregon delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver August 25-28.