Colón to announce decision ‘in the very near future’

Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and a superdelegate, said he will announce his decision on whether to support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the presidential primary “in the very near future.”

He hinted, in an interview, that an announcement could come as soon as this weekend.

Colón is one of three superdelegates from New Mexico who have not publicly pledged their support to either candidate. Of the nine who have announced their decisions, six are supporting Clinton and three are supporting Obama.

There are “a lot of factors” Colón said he is considering as he approaches a decision.

“One is electability. One is, from a very personal perspective, who I think is best suited to lead the country and to make sure that we have success in November,” he said.

Colón said he has received at least hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from people trying to convince him to back one candidate over the other, and said he takes the responsibility of being a superdelegate very seriously. He said he’s often referred to by friends as a fence-sitter, but in this case, he can’t do that.

“It’s certainly not a decision I take lightly,” Colón said.

I wrote on Thursday, in a larger story about the uncommitted superdelegates, about Clinton backers who are challenging the selection of Laurie Weahkee as the final superdelegate from New Mexico. Colón said they could appeal her selection to the Democratic National Committee, but he doesn’t know whether they will choose to do that. He said he remains confident that he followed the rules during the process that led to Weahkee’s selection.