Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING — They came proudly displaying their Bernie and Madam President 2016 buttons, hoping that their preferred candidate for president prevails.

But the sense at the Democratic state central committee meeting Saturday in Lansing was that despite their differences, the supporters of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will come together next month in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention.

“I think the party will unite,” said James Mitchell III of Detroit a supporter of Vermont Sen. Sanders. “I’m comfortable with it as long as Sen. Clinton absorbs or adopts large portions of Bernie Sanders’ positions, like big bank reform and Medicare for all.”

As the state Democratic Party selected the last of the 147 delegates who will travel to Philadelphia on July 25 for the Democratic National Convention, former Gov. James Blanchard said there is still work to do to ensure that the large and enthusiastic crowds of people who still “Feel the Bern,” coalesce behind former Secretary of State Clinton, who clinched the nomination earlier this week, followed by significant wins Tuesday in primary election states of California, New Jersey and New Mexico.

“We have a lot of work to do, but we’re going to be unified and we’re going to win Michigan,” Blanchard said. “We have to spend time with Sanders’ supporters and let them know we have shared values. And we have to separate fantasy from fact because there’s still a lot of misinformation out there.”

The one common theme of the afternoon was a shared conviction that the alternative of GOP candidate Donald Trump is much worse than anyone the Democratic Party could nominate.

“Seeing the Clinton campaign and Sanders campaign bring their excitement to the race has been great,” said Art Luna, chairman of the Democratic Party’s 7th Congressional District. “If the candidate an individual doesn’t want so much is the nominee that they’ll stay home and not vote, then we’ll get Trumped. So I’m hoping when we leave here and leave Philadelphia that we’re one because what I hear and see from the Trump campaign isn’t where we want to go.”

Republicans chose their 59 delegates to the GOP National Convention, which begins July 18 in Cleveland, during a state party convention in April. Based on the March 8 primary election, 25 of the delegates are going to New York businessman Trump while Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz each got 17 delegates. Even though Kasich and Cruz have dropped out of the race, the Michigan delegates are bound to vote for their preferred candidate on the first ballot in Cleveland. They can switch their support after that first vote.

Democrats chose 85 delegates and 11 alternates on May 21, based on how the two candidates did in each of the congressional districts during Michigan’s March 8 primary, which Sanders won by a 50.8% to 49.2% margin over Clinton.

Another 45 delegates — usually leaders and locally elected Democratic officials — were selected Saturday at the state central committee meeting. Among those delegates getting the nod: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, and Blanchard and his wife, Janet Blanchard.

And the third set of delegates — the 17 superdelegates made up of the state’s congressional delegation and the state’s members of the Democratic National Committee — can commit to any candidate they wish and can change that preference at any time through the national convention in July. A significant majority of those superdelegates have pledged their support to Clinton.

Not everyone at the meeting Saturday was looking toward a party unified behind Clinton.

"I hope she gets indicted and has to step down before the election," said Rochester Hills resident Bruce Fealk, a supporter of Sanders.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430 or kgray99@freepress.com