Dem. convention stretches into late evening

RENO-Although the speeches and delegate allocation were over in the early afternoon, the Nevada Democratic Convention lasted late into the evening Saturday with staffers and volunteers spending hours working to elect delegates to the national convention.

A morning that began with controversy over the finer points of convention process gave way to hours of tedium as delegates from Nevada's three congressional districts broke up into separate rooms at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno for self-nomination and voting for national delegates.

Delegate voting lasted until after 9 p.m., more than eight hours after initial alignment was determined.  Alignment gave Ill. Sen. Barack Obama nine delegates from the congressional districts compared to N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton's seven.  Obama received two delegates to be chosen from party leaders and elected officials to Clinton's one, and both candidates received three at-large delegates.

Additionally, the party selected one add-on delegate to the national convention, Rusty McAllister of the International Association of Firefighters.  McAllister will attend the convention as an unpledged delegate, essentially an extra superdelegate.

Results from the other convention elections, including executive board members and national committeeman and woman had not yet been announced as of this posting.