Mikulski to nominate Clinton in Philadelphia

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) will officially nominate Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, the Clinton campaign announced on Tuesday, after negotiations to have Sen. Bernie Sanders nominate Clinton apparently failed.

{mosads}Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Na’ilah Amaru will second her nomination. Amaru, an adjunct professor and public policy consultant, won a campaign contest to nominate Clinton. 

Reports surfaced earlier Tuesday that negotiations were underway to have Sanders nominate his former primary rival for president in an effort to signal party unity. 

The Washington Post reported the Clinton campaign is talking to Sanders about giving the Vermont senator a larger role Tuesday night at the convention.

The two campaigns are discussing having Sanders’s home-state delegation from Vermont move to make her nomination unanimous by acclimation after votes have been recorded from all of the other states.

“We’ve been talking about that with the Clinton campaign for weeks,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told the Post. “We hope it works out.”

CNN reported that Sanders wants his home-state delegation from Vermont to go last in the vote and put Clinton over the top.

Clinton will be the first woman presidential nominee of a major party in the country. She will officially accept the Democratic presidential nomination in a prime-time speech on Thursday night.  

Earlier this month, Clinton published a tribute to The Toast, comparing the feminist website to a tradition started by Mikulski in which women of the Senate would gather for dinner parties. Clinton also talked about the admiration she has for the Maryland senator.

“Over a glass of wine — okay, maybe three — we’d give each other support, advice, and highly relevant tips to navigate being in such an extreme minority,” Clinton said of the parties.

“I’ve always had great admiration for women like Barb who take it upon themselves to create spaces where women can speak their minds freely.”

–This report was updated at 3:30 p.m.