Democratic donors are threatening to ask for refunds or plan to withhold funds if the controversies over primary votes in Michigan and Florida aren’t resolved soon, reports Michael Luo and John M. Broder of the New York Times.

Reflecting how tense the situation has become, influential fund-raisers for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have stepped up their behind-the-scenes pressure on national party leaders to resolve the matter, with some even threatening to withhold their donations to the Democratic National Committee unless it seats the delegates from the two states or holds new primaries there. …

Pushing to seat the Florida delegates, at least one top Clinton fund-raiser, Paul Cejas, a Miami businessman who has given the Democratic National Committee $63,500 since 2003, has demanded Democratic officials return his 2007 contribution of $28,500, which they have agreed to do.

“If you’re not going to count my vote, I’m not going to give you my money,” said Mr. Cejas, who was the United States ambassador to Belgium from 1998 to 2001.

Christopher Korge, a Florida real estate developer who is another top fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton, held an event last year in his home that brought in about $140,000 for the national party, which was set aside in a special account for the general election battle in Florida. But he told committee officials this week that if Florida’s delegate conundrum was not settled satisfactorily he would be asking for the money back.

Update: Conservative Underground reports that Michigan wants to conduct a re-vote on June 3.

It will be interesting to see what happens when (and if) Michigan (and Florida) conduct their re-votes. If the votes had been counted two or three weeks ago, it could have been bad news for Hillary Clinton. Now, with news stories about Tony Rezko and Jeremiah Wright dominating the cable news channels, Barack Obama’s meteoric rise might slow, giving Hillary an advantage.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton, primaries

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