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Many committed Howard Dean supporters are planning to vote for Dean on Tuesday, despite the fact that he officially dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary race two weeks ago.

With a huge grassroots campaign and a large amount of monetary support, Dean was considered the front-runner at the beginning of the primary. But after a third-place finish in the Jan. 19 Iowa caucus, Dean was unable to gain the support he needed to win any of the other states.

But many students involved with Bruins for Dean will cast their ballots for him in hopes of sending delegates to the Democratic Nomination Convention to represent Dean’s ideas.

Democratic candidates who have dropped out – including Dean, Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark – will still have their names on the California ballots.

A delegate for a candidate who has withdrawn can be sent to the nomination convention if the former candidate is able to get 15 percent of the vote in any electoral district.

Fifth-year theater student and co-president of Bruins for Dean Cameron King said it is important to still support Dean because the delegates would express his more liberal ideas.

“We want to make sure the progressive wing of the Democratic party is represented there so that people realize that it exists,” King said.

King’s sentiment reflects the mood of hard-core Dean supporters around the country who have said they will still vote for the former Vermont governor. A group of sign-carrying Dean supporters even turned out at the Feb. 26 candidates debate at the University of Southern California.

Amy Jamison, a graduate student in history and co-president of Bruins for Dean, said she is voting for Dean because she doesn’t have a clear preference yet for the two major remaining candidates, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.).

“I devoted a year of my life to the Dean campaign, so it wouldn’t feel right to vote for anyone else in the primary,” Jamison said.

Ben Sigman, a third-year classics student, said he will not only vote for Dean in the California primary, but will also cast his presidential ballot for Dean in November.

Sigman said he was impressed with Dean’s honesty and leadership abilities, and though he realizes Dean will not win, he feels it is important to vote for what he believes in.

Sigman also said he would rather see Edwards win over Kerry, adding that he might vote for Edwards if Dean endorses him.

Though Dean’s campaign for the presidency is over, Dean has said he would unveil a new grassroots political organization he plans to launch on March 18.

Though some, like Sigman, are waiting to see what the new organization will be about, many Dean supporters are already planning to support it.

King said Bruins for Dean will continue to support Dean’s grassroots campaign. The group will undergo a name change and focus more on promoting liberal issues and helping to elect politicians whose ideas are close to those of Dean.

Second-year political science and Middle Eastern studies student Jessica Wood is also planning to continue working with the Dean campaign.

“By continuing his organization, Dean is showing people that even though he didn’t win, he is still changing politics,” Wood said. “His movement isn’t dead.”