Bernie Sanders supporters eked out a narrow victory to elect one of their own as chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party for the next two years, a development that could alter the Hawaii party’s fundraising practices.

Tim Vandeveer, an unexploded-ordnance technician and former union shop steward, narrowly defeated longtime Democratic party activist and United Public Workers union official Florence Kong Kee.

Also running in the four-way race were Jacce Mikulanec, who is a lobbyist for the Hawaii Medical Service Association, and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, a lobbyist and executive director of the Hawaii Construction Alliance, which represents five of Hawaii’s construction labor unions.

Vandeveer, a Kalihi resident, prevailed by a tiny margin of 24 out of a total of 1,022 votes. The relatively crowded contest helped Vandeveer to win as the three other candidates divided up the votes from Hawaii’s unions and the more traditional party establishment.

The abrupt surge of thousands of Sanders supporters into the party this year had stirred fears there might be an angry internal fracture at the state convention, but the exchanges between Sanders’ supporters and backers of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to remain generally civil.

Most of the party leadership, including U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, supports Clinton, but both Schatz and Hirono pointedly thanked and congratulated the Sanders supporters for turning out for the convention.

Gov. David Ige took the stage after the vote for party chairman to congratulate the candidates and the delegates for the orderly transition.

“People make the party work,” he said, triggering a long and loud round of applause from the delegates. “I am so proud that we have four outstanding candidates who are willing to put their names before all of us to lead this party.”

Vandeveer was born in Texas and still speaks with a slight twang, although he has lived in Hawaii for about 15 years. He has been a part-time student at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii, pursuing a law degree and an environmental certificate, and plans to become a full-time law student this fall.

He describes the party practice of raising money from corporate donors and special interests as “fundamentally wrong,” and said he intends to change it.

Vandeveer said it is “extremely hypocritical” for the party to urge its candidates to seek out small donors and avoid corporate donors, “and then immediately pivot from this convention and put our hands out to banks and developers.”

“We’re perceived … as one of the most corrupt states in the country, our Legislature and our executive branch, and I think the primary reason is money in politics,” Vandeveer said. He also maintains that the biggest obstacle to implementing the party’s goals and platform is campaign money, and described money in politics as “the problem from which everything else flows.”

“If you look at our City Council, for instance, regardless of what side you come down on for rail, the fact that every single City Council member to some extent funded their campaigns with money from interests from rail, that doesn’t instill confidence in me as a voter,” he said.

In his new role, Vandeveer said he plans to articulate the party platform, grow the party membership and keep the “new blood” from the Sanders campaign engaged in the party by showing them the party has shifted to grass-roots fundraising.

Former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee said in an interview he hopes Vandeveer succeeds in reforming political fundraising and the “outrageous” influence of money on campaigns.

Waihee pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission case, which concluded in 2010 that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on advocacy in elections.

“I appreciate his ambition, I wish him well, but … ultimately, the party’s primary duty is to get people elected, so we’ll see how that agenda plays into that scenario,” Waihee said. “It’s a complex thing, because at the same time you need to raise money.”

Waihee said he hopes a Democratic president will be elected who will appoint Supreme Court justices who will help overturn the Citizens United ruling.

“That’s really what ultimately the big picture is about,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Mark Takai on Sunday used the state convention to offer an endorsement of Colleen Hanabusa as his replacement in Congress in the wake of Takai’s announcement that he will not run for re-election.

Takai did not attend the convention because he is resting in Washington, D.C., but his representative Dylan Beesley read a statement from Takai to more than 700 delegates gathered on the floor of the convention hall at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.

“Although I will not be seeking re-election this fall, there is still much work that I am determined to see through for Hawaii and our nation during the remainder of my term in Congress,” Takai said in his statement. “I intend to do all I can to elect a progressive champion to represent Hawaii in Congress, someone like Congresswoman Colleen Hana- busa who can deliver resources and results for Hawaii.”

Beesley was interrupted by loud applause at the mention of Hanabusa’s name, but continued, “And I will be by your side to make sure Donald Trump never, ever becomes president of our great nation.”

Hanabusa, 65, held the urban Honolulu House seat from 2011 to 2015. She said Saturday she is preparing her nomination papers to make a bid to return to the seat she previously held in the U.S. House of Representatives representing urban Honolulu, but she has not yet formally filed for the office.

She said she delayed filing and formally announcing her campaign because she wanted the convention this weekend to focus on Takai and his contributions.

Takai announced earlier this month he would not seek re-election to the House because he needs to concentrate on his health after he recently learned that his pancreatic cancer had spread. Takai was first elected to Congress in 2014.

Bart Dame, authorized representative for the Sanders campaign in Hawaii, was elected Democratic national committeeman for Hawaii, and longtime Democratic Party activist Kate Stanley was elected Democratic national committeewoman.

The election of Vandeveer means he now becomes a superdelegate, which means the convention in effect awarded Sanders an additional superdelegate vote.

Five superdelegates have announced they will support Clinton, including Hirono, Schatz, Takai, outgoing Democratic National Committeeman Russell Okata and outgoing Democratic National Committeewoman Jadine Nielsen.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is also a superdelegate, is a strong Sanders supporter.

Party officials on Sunday night selected Dolly Strazer, a former national committeewoman, as the party vice chairwoman. She also will be a superdelegate and is one the record as a Clinton supporter.

Superdelegates who have not yet announced whom they will support at the national convention in Philadelphia in July include Ige and Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui.

Vandeveer and other Sanders supporters argue that Sanders should receive seven superdelegates from Hawaii, which would be the same percentage of delegates as he won in the popular vote in Hawaii in March. However, party rules do not require that.

Sanders won 17 of the 25 Hawaii delegates that are apportioned according to the results of the March 26 presidential preference polling, while Clinton won eight.

“I think all of our congressional delegation that are supporting Hillary Clinton should seriously reconsider that support based on the vote in our state,” Vandeveer said. “We have a mandate here. We’re talking 70 percent of our vote.”

Party delegates also passed a resolution Sunday calling on the Democratic National Committee to abolish the use of superdelegates in presidential elections, starting with the 2020 election.