Tina Ward-Pugh

DENVER—U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) Kentucky campaign chair Jerry Lundergan said there are “lot of hurt feelings” among Clinton delegates to the Democratic National Convention after some supporters of presidential nominee Barack Obama (D-Ill.) pushed them to change their votes in yesterday’s roll call vote.

“The arm-twisting to get that vote – a lot of people are hurt. There are a lot of hurt feelings,” said Lundergan, who previously served as the chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party. “The people that were trying to get everyone to change from Clinton to Obama I think had good intentions. I don’t think those people who were trying to get those vote switched between breakfast and lunchtime realized how deep emotionally the Clinton people are about Hillary Clinton.”

The roll call vote in Kentucky’s delegation went to Obama, by a vote of 36 to 24 – a significant difference from the 40 to 20 delegate advantage Clinton had going into the convention after her 35-point primary win in Kentucky.
Still, 40 percent of the Commonwealth’s delegates went to Clinton.

“I was elected by the people of the 4th District to represent Hillary Clinton and that’s what I did,” said Tyler Murphy, a Clinton delegate from Flatwoods. “I slept soundly last night because I did that.”

Top Kentucky supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential bid participated in a conference call with reporters today to blast assertions from the campaign of Senator Barack Obama that the nominating process could end before the Kentucky primary.Jerry Lundergan

"We disagree," said Lundergan. "We think the people of Kentucky need the chance to have their voices heard. For the first time, Kentucky is going to play a role...Our citizens have the right to participate in the nominating process."

The Clinton supporters also argued today's endorsement of Obama by Kentucky superdelegate and 6th District Congressman Ben Chandler would be balanced out by strong support within his district for Clinton.

"Congressman Chandler knows most likely the 6th Congressional District is going to go in favor of Senator Clinton," said Lundergan.

The Kentucky campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton confirmed the roles of staffers Jamie Radice and Jonathan Hurst today in a press release.

As was reported last week on PolitickerKY.com, Radice will serve as Kentucky Communications Director for Clinton. She previously worked for the campaign in Texas and Tennessee.

(L-R) Jerry Lundergan, Rep. Joni Jenkins, Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh

Senator Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign opened the doors on a Kentucky headquarters Wednesday evening, thirty four days before the Commonwealth’s May 20 primary. Around 100 supporters turned out to the see the Louisville office officially get designation as the nerve center for Clinton's Kentucky operations.