Sen. Bernie Sanders laughs during a campaign stop in Laramie, Wyoming. | AP Photo Democrats sweat next convention blowup Wyoming could be the next flash point for a Sanders revolt.

In the wake of a recent Nevada state party convention that descended into chaos, Democrats are sweating out a similar event in Wyoming on Saturday.

When Democrats meet in Cheyenne to select delegates to the July national convention, the same elements that created such a volatile mix in Nevada will be present: anger and frustration over Bernie Sanders’ delegate haul, superdelegates who backed Hillary Clinton before the state caucuses took place, and threats to state party officials.


At a gathering of state Democratic chairmen in Philadelphia last week, Wyoming was identified as one of the upcoming states that is most likely to have a disruptive convention.

"There was obviously a discussion amongst [state Democratic executive directors] and amongst party chairs about the upcoming states with conventions, particularly those that have the delegate selection parts, and the feeling that there would be a couple of flash points coming up," said a state Democratic party executive director who attended the meeting. "Wyoming is one that was thrown into the mix."

In Philadelphia, Democrats came up with a set of guidelines that would commit the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton and Sanders campaigns to maintaining an active presence at the remaining events in the interest of avoiding the kind of rancor that marked the Nevada debacle.

Wyoming represents the first test of that fragile truce between disaffected Sanders supporters and the Democratic Party establishment.

The problem is that Sanders defeated Clinton in the state's April 9 Democratic caucuses by 56 percent to 44 percent, but each candidate was allocated seven delegates — an outcome that deeply frustrated the Vermont senator’s supporters. Since the state’s four superdelegates all back Clinton, Sanders actually suffered a net delegate loss out of Wyoming, despite comfortably winning the popular vote.

In the aftermath, top Wyoming Democratic officials, especially those publicly backing Clinton, reported receiving angry calls, letters and threats.

"I have received some very negative phone calls and some very negative letters," said state Rep. Mary Hales, a Clinton supporter. The threats, she said, were "things like ‘bitch,’ and that they're going to contact your family members, put this information out on a blog, and things like that."

The state party’s executive director, Aimee Van Cleave, said she had received threats and that someone let the air out of her car tires.

"Most of the people that we heard from that were really upset and were making threatening comments did it after the caucuses in April," Van Cleave said. "It's mostly actually settled down here, and whether these people are actually Sanders supporters or even, as far as we can tell, registered Democrats, I can't say. It's just not clear."

Wyoming Democratic National Committeeman Mike Gierau said he also received a wave of threatening messages — most of which he didn't take seriously. The exception was a picture of him posted on Facebook with his home address.

"It said 'go to this guy's house and let him know what's what,'" Gierau recalled. After that, he said he called Sanders political director Nick Carter to file a complaint that Sanders supporters were going "out of bounds."

Multiple Democrats also noted that Wyoming Democratic Party chairwoman Ana Cuprill was the target of threats. Cuprill declined to comment for this story.

But in an interview with POLITICO two days after Nevada's convention, Cuprill said she was focusing on procedure and security for her state's convention.

"I am a little concerned about some of the procedural stuff, but I think we're prepared to have those conversations," Cuprill said. "We've just been planning to make sure our delegates have the appropriate space and comfort to make the decisions that they need to make."

"I think that's what's been happening nationwide is that Bernie supporters see numbers like in Wyoming and they get very, very angry," said state Sen. Bernadine Craft, a Clinton supporter who noted that she didn't receive any threatening letters.

Craft said she thought things could get heated Saturday.

“I don't expect it to be a fury kind of thing, but I think it could be kind of interesting,” she said. “And I think that's one thing the Bernie supporters have done, they've brought a level of enthusiasm and excitement that I'm not sure has been there before."

Top operatives from both campaigns and the DNC are slated to be at the convention to ensure there’s no Nevada repeat. New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley, a DNC vice chairman who spearheaded the proposal governing conduct at state conventions, will be on site, as will Sanders deputy campaign manager Rich Pelletier and Marlon Marshall, the Clinton campaign's political engagement director, according to multiple Wyoming and national Democrats.

Some Wyoming Democrats insist worries about a raucous state convention are overblown. While they concede there's likely to be vigorous debate, they predict it won't be anywhere near comparable to the events in Nevada, which was subject to multiple disruptions and where California Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Clinton supporter, was shouted down. Afterward, Nevada Democratic Party chairwoman Roberta Lange was inundated with threats of violence, and the state party’s headquarters was defaced with graffiti.

It won't be quite like that on Saturday, predicted Teton County Democratic Party chairman Luther Probst.

"I could be dead wrong. But I would be surprised,” said Probst. “And if it does get ugly, it's going to be a real head-scratcher for people, because that's just not the way it's done here usually," Probst said.

The Sanders camp has also been involved in taking precautions to maintain a level of civility at the convention. On Tuesday, a Sanders field organizer met with pro-Sanders delegates in Laramie to discuss proper conduct at the convention, according to Wyoming state Rep. Charles Pelkey, the only elected official in the state who endorsed Sanders. Pelkey said he planned to have another meeting with Sanders delegates on Thursday.

"There’ll be people shouting and there’ll be chants and such, but violence? Here? I don’t expect that at all," Pelkey said.

Pelkey said he planned to push a petition changing the district-level delegate allocation between the two candidates from the current even split of 4-4 to 5-3 for Sanders.

"One thing that I would like to ensure is that it gets a fair hearing at the convention," Pelkey said.

