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Coverage of the 2016 presidential election from NPR News and related blogs, including candidate profiles, interviews and talking points.On-air specials will also be broadcast as Election Day approaches, including the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.WRVO also provides coverage of regional elections both on-air and online.

New York's Sanders delegates angered by Wikileaks controversy

Karen DeWitt
/
WRVO News

The resignation of Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz over the release of emails showing that staff favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders overshadowed other news at the beginning of the Democratic National Convention. 

Many of the Sanders delegates are angered by the news that DNC staffers may have stacked the deck against their candidate in favor of Hillary Clinton. Assemblyman Phil Steck is from the Albany area and one of the few elected officials supporting Sanders. He says it’s “great” that Wasserman Schultz resigned, but is philosophical about the Wikileaks release. And he says the election is too important to get bogged down in an intra-party fight. 

“Everyone that supported Bernie Sanders knew already that the DNC was trying to finagle these things,” said Steck.”But I don’t think that’s the major issue.”

Steck is supporting Hillary Clinton in the general election, but not all Sanders delegates will be doing so.

The Sanders delegates from New York are holding a special meeting Monday morning. Later they will hear from Bernie Sanders, before the Vermont Senator addresses the national convention Monday night.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau Chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 public radio stations in New York State. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.