Dems rebuff effort urging Sanders, King to switch party

bernie-sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, arrives for a series of votes at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

bernie-sanders

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The independent status of Sens. Bernie Sanders and Angus King is just fine with Democrats.

Democrats on Friday rejected a resolution that would have urged Vermont’s Sanders and Maine’s King to switch their party affiliation to Democrat. The two caucus with Democrats. The action came at the Democratic National Committee’s meeting.

The idea came from a California Democrat who backed Hillary Clinton over Sanders in the 2016 presidential primaries. DNC member Bob Mulholland says the Democratic Party should be controlled by Democrats.

Longtime DNC leader and Sanders backer James Zobgy led the DNC’s Resolutions Committee in turning down Mulholland’s proposal. Zogby says taking a shot at Sanders would “feed a Twitter debate that will not be helpful in bringing together” voters on the left.