Democrats near deal on insiders’ role in picking nominee

CHICAGO (AP) — Democrats are nearing a final decision on how much power party insiders should have in picking presidential nominees.

The Democratic National Committee is expected to vote later Saturday on a proposal that would strip “superdelegates” of their presidential nominating votes at any contested convention in 2020.

That group includes the DNC members, elected officials and other party elders that make up about 15 percent of all Democratic convention delegates.

Party Chairman Tom Perez says he’s confident the change will pass after two years of negotiations that spun out of the 2016 nominating fight between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

But the vote won’t come without one final public airing of disagreements from party leaders who don’t want to give up their status.