Calling it a successful strategy of national outreach to appeal to all Americans, Democratic National Convention officials announced today that it has seated the most diverse delegation ever as it prepares to nominate the first African American for president.
The 4,440 self-described delegates are 50 percent female, 24.5 percent African American, 12 percent Hispanic; 4.6 percent Asian American; 2.5 percent Native American and 5.8 percent lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, party officials said.
“This is the most inclusive convention in our party’s history,” said Alice Travis Germond, the secretary of the Democratic National Committee at the first daily news briefing at the Convention Center. “Every single diversity number has gone up across every single group that we’re proud to have as members of our Democratic family.”
“It is really a convention that looks like America,” she said. “It shows more and more outreach.”
At least 14.5 percent of the delegates are 36 or younger, compared with 16.5 percent who are 65 and older. The youngest delegate is 17 years old and the oldest is 90, Germond said.
