SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Democrats have narrowly selected longtime party insider Eric Bauman to be the leader of the largest state Democratic Party.
The decision on Saturday angered and frustrated supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders who threw their support behind an insurgent challenger.
Delegates to the state party convention selected Bauman for party chair. He defeated Kimberly Ellis, who refused to concede citing unspecified concerns with the vote count. She says she spoke with a lawyer and declared "this race is not over."
The hotly contested race reflected the deep divisions within the Democratic Party, which is universally committed to fighting President Donald Trump but has not fully healed from last year's contentious presidential primary between Sanders and Hillary Clinton.