Taylor Sappington and his role in DNC decisions

Wikimedia Commons/Public/Ohio Democratic Party, Public domain

On the morning of July 1, the Democratic National Committee kicked off a virtual roll-call to formally nominate Vice President Kamala Harris, and Taylor Sappington of Nelsonville, Ohio was one of the delegates casting a vote. The virtual process closed Monday night, and Harris became the official nominee.

Sappington and the other Ohio delegates had been pledged to President Joe Biden after he won the Ohio Democratic presidential primary with 87.06% of the vote. Yet since his withdrawal from the race, the delegates’ role took on a new importance. 

Sappington was selected to be a delegate by the Ohio Democratic Party as one of its “Public Leaders and Elected Officials.” He is currently the Auditor for the city of Nelsonville, and he is the Democratic nominee for Athens County Treasurer in this November’s election. Sappington said that he was, “honored to be chosen by the executive board.” (RELATED: 2022 Midterm Election Results)

As part of the widespread Democratic consensus that quickly coalesced around Harris, the Ohio delegates held a Zoom meeting to endorse and pledge their support for Harris on July 22, just one day after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. Sappington said that there were many requests for this meeting, and he expressed mixed emotions about Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.

Sappington explained that he had been a Biden supporter early in the 2020 race and worked on the Obama-Biden campaign in 2012. He said that he felt a strong connection with Biden due to their experiences of grief and loss. Regarding the pressure on Biden to drop out, Sappington said that he “had heard the discussion but didn’t think it was gonna happen until it did,” adding that he “couldn’t imagine the President of the United States dropping out of a re-election campaign.”

When Biden made the announcement that he was dropping out, Sappington said that he felt “upset and uncertain, but grateful.” He went on to discuss how unusual it is for someone to give up power in this manner and commended Biden’s selflessness. A sitting president dropping out of a re-election campaign is unprecedented in Sappington’s lifetime, and he said, “for a little bit there, at least a few hours, I was in this new unknown space.” Emails came later that day explaining the process, and the Ohio delegates made their endorsement the following day.

Changing candidates this late in the process undoubtedly brings difficulties and uncertainties, but the race is not altogether different to Sappington. He noted that Harris and Biden “bring different experiences and different emphases because of those experiences.” Sappington described the election as a choice between Trump, “who organized the January 6th insurrection at the capitol and called the white supremacists at Charlottesville ‘very fine people,’” and Vice President Harris, “who wants to expand healthcare to everybody, fund education across the county, and codify Roe v. Wade.” Sappington also added that “Trump and Vance support nationwide abortion bans.” These are Sappington’s opinions, and some of these issues are not entirely clear cut.

Trump’s role on Jan. 6 is still under litigation, and a June Snopes fact-check ruled the “very fine people” story false. The fact-check clarified that although Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” he added that white nationalists and neo-Nazis “should be condemned totally.”

Trump has also refused to endorse a nationwide abortion ban throughout his campaign. Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance previously stated that he was “open” to a nationwide abortion ban, but he has fallen in line with Trump’s stance since joining the ticket.

Although the decision to nominate Harris has already been made, Sappington will still be representing Ohio at the Democratic National Convention from Aug. 19-22. Sappington was also a delegate in 2020, but he was unable to participate in an in-person convention due to COVID-19. Regarding the convention, Sappington said he expects “nothing but electricity.”