Trevor's Story: What It's Like To Be A 2020 DNC Delegate

Scott Anderson
Updated ·3 min read

RACINE, WI — As one of Wisconsin's 97 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, 24-year-old Trevor Jung is soaking it all in.

Trevor said he's taking time off work from his job at Carthage College as a Career Specialist to clear his calendar to attend the convention.

Because the convention is virtual-only, Trevor has spent the better part of the last two days on Zoom video calls connecting with people across the U.S. as Democratic leaders of all backgrounds work to set the party's platform in advance of the election in November.

"My focus is hearing peoples' stories now that the convention is across America," Jung told Patch. "We are hearing from folks who are workers, and people whose families lost loved ones due to COVID-19."

Jung told Patch that being part of those types of discussions are critical to being connected to the country's most urgent issues in a personal and tangible way.

The list of Democratic caucus meetings can appear dizzying to the outside observer. Wednesday's schedule featured Hispanic, Labor, AAPI, Black, Interfaith, Ethnic and Women's Caucus and Council meetings. Trevor said he's participated in a full schedule of meetings each day of the convention.

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One of Trevor's biggest concerns heading into the 2020 DNC was how he and local leaders would connect and communicate with party leadership.

In one way, having an all-virtual convention has proven that delegates like Trevor have the opportunity for closer contact with top Democratic Party leaders.

"Governor Evers was just sitting there in his house," Trevor said as he attended a delegate social hour at the end of one of the convention days. "We were just casually talking about the day what our favorite parts of the convention were. It was so cool not seeing the governor in formal attire at a press conference; just chatting about how fun the day was."

The virtual format also opened up a chance for Trevor and fellow Wisconsin delegates to get a word in with their presidential nominee.

"I am going to be on a call with Joe Biden at 3 p.m. on a Zoom video call with the Wisconsin delegation today," Trevor said of his Wednesday schedule. "This type of access we have now; we wouldn't have it during a normal convention."

During a normal convention, delegate votes would have been cast and declared on the convention floor.

Because the convention is being conducted virtually, the nominating votes were conducted via e-mail instead of in-person. Remote voting was held starting on August 3 and ran through Saturday.

At 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Democratic National Committee Secretary Jason Rae ascended a makeshift stage inside room 202 of the Wisconsin Center to announce Wisconsin's results: 30 votes for Sen. Bernie Sanders and 67 for Joe Biden.

Trevor once drove 14 hours to Philadelphia to hear Biden announce his intention to run for president. As a staunch Biden backer, Trevor said this election is a choice between "somebody who cares about ratings versus someone who cares about results."

In talking about Biden, Trevor said his candidate "brings compassion to the White House, and is working to ward off public health crises to keep us safe."

As the old saying goes, "all politics is local." In the midst of a national convention, Trevor still had to carve out several hours on Tuesday night to attend a Racine Common Council meeting in addition to an Executive Committee meeting.

For Trevor, it meant pivoting from helping to shape the Democratic Party's platform to local matters like considering a local referendum in one instance, or accepting emergency federal funding in another.

"That's what it means to be a responsible public servant," he said.

This article originally appeared on the Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Patch