PHILADELPHIA -- On Tuesday evening, delegates officially nominate Hillary Clinton for president.
During this election, there has been a lot of talk about the roles of delegates and superdelegates, who have the power to vote for any candidate, no matter how their state voted.
North Carolina Commissioner Pat Cotham was an uncommitted supporter delegate for a while, and she eventually voted for Bernie Sanders. She says she was attracted to the progressive candidate for his stance on issues like minimum wage, education and health care.
But she really connected with the movement of millennials that surrounded his campaign because it reminded her of 1968, a time when politics were very different.
“And we protested. I was a protester in college. I wasn't a hippie,” said Commisioner Cotham.
The year was 1968. Superdelegate and Mecklenburg County Commisioner Pat Cotham was just starting her career.
“But I was a protester against the war in Vietnam and to lower the voting age, and I mean, we did and even though we couldn't vote. And that's what I loved about the Bernie Sanders campaign. There were so many young people, and I kept telling them you have more power than you know it you used it. We used it. We didn't have the Internet or cell phone or anything else but we did it,” said Commissioner Pat Cotham, N.C. superdelegate.
Fast forward to today, and Cotham says she sees herself in many of the young Bernie Sanders supporters. And now she wants to keep them engaged in this election process.
“Because if people get in the habit of voting when they're young, they keep voting. But if they don't vote then, they won't vote. I mean Bernie did the very heavy lifting, and now it's up to Clinton to keep them and bring them along,” said Commissioner Cotham.
As a superdelegate, Cotham was able to vote for any candidate no matter how North Carolina voted. But it's a system she doesn't like, and she believes all votes should be counted equally.
“There were states that Bernie Sanders won the popular vote. But Hillary got more delegates, and that doesn't make sense. And people think their vote doesn't count, and in reality it didn't. And we need to have people voting and knowing that their vote counts," said Commissioner Cotham.
This fall, Commissioner Cotham says she's voting for Hillary Clinton. And from now until November, she wants to see the Clinton campaign engage with Sanders supporters so they make it to the polls this November and for every election.