Types of delegates
Delegates are individuals chosen to represent their state at their party's national nominating convention. They are either selected in primary and caucus contests or included because of their position as an elected representative or member of the party leadership.[1]
The Democratic and Republican Parties differ in how they name and allocate delegates. Democratic delegates are either pledged or unpledged, while Republican delegates are bound or unbound.
A presidential candidate must reach a minimum number of delegates before he or she can win a party's nomination. This number varies election-to-election and by political party.
Democratic Party
- See also:Democratic delegate rules, 2024
Pledged delegates
Pledged delegates are elected during primaries, caucuses, or party conventions, and must express either a presidential candidate preference or an uncommitted preference as a condition of their election. Rule 13(J) of the Democratic National Committee defines a pledged delegate's responsibility:
| “ | Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.[2] | ” |
| —Rule 13(J), 2020 Delegate Selection Rules[3] | ||
There are three distinct types of pledged delegates:[4]
- Pledged district delegates are distributed and elected at the congressional or state legislative district level.
- Pledged at-large delegates are distributed and elected statewide.
- Pledged PLEO delegates areparty leaders and elected officials. Pledged PLEO delegates are most often selected in a similar manner to at-large delegates.[4]
Automatic delegates
Automatic delegates are unpledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Automatic delegates, who are often calledsuperdelegates, are not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate. Automatic delegates include members of theDemocratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, or distinguished party leaders, including formerpresidents and vice presidents. They are free to support any presidential candidate of their choosing.[4]
Following the2016 presidential election, the Unity Reform Commission was formed to revise the Democratic nominating process, including reducing the number and power of automatic delegates.[5][6][7] At the conclusion of the party's national convention on August 25, 2018, officials voted to adopt a measure banning automatic delegates from voting on the first ballot at a contested national convention.[8]
Republican Party
- See also:Republican delegate rules, 2024
Pledged delegates
Pledged delegates, also calledbound delegates, are bound to vote on at least the first ballot at the national convention based on the results of their states' primary or caucus. The Rules of the Republican Party, as passed in July 2020 and amended in July 2022, state the following:
| “ | Any statewide presidential preference vote that permits a choice among candidates for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in a primary, caucuses, or a state convention must be used to allocate and bind the state’s delegation to the national convention in either aproportional or winner-take-all manner for at least one round of balloting, except for delegates and alternate delegates who appear on a ballot in a statewide election and are elected directly by primary voters or delegates bound to a candidate that withdraws from the presidential race.[2] | ” |
| —Rule 16(a)(1), The Rules of the Republican Party[9] | ||
There are four distinct types of pledged Republican delegates:[4]
Pledged district delegates are distributed and elected at the congressional district level. The Republican Party assigns three district-level delegates to each congressional district.
Pledged at-large delegates are distributed and elected statewide. The Republican Party assigns 10 at-large delegates to each state.
Pledged party leaders: The Republican Party gives delegate status to three party leaders from each state and territory—its national committeeman, national committeewoman, and state party chair.
Pledged bonus delegates: Bonus delegates are assigned to states whose electoral votes went to the Republican nominee in the last presidential election and to states in which Republicans hold: the governorship, at least half of U.S. representative seats, a majority of a state legislative chamber, a majority of seats in both legislative chambers, or a U.S. Senate seat (elected within the past six years).
Unpledged delegates
Unpledged delegates, also calledunbound delegates, are not bound by the results of state primaries or caucuses. Some state and territory party rules dictate that some or all of their Republican delegates are unbound.[10] The following was an estimate of unbound Republican delegates as of March 2023.
- Pennsylvania's51 district-level delegates were not bound to support any particular presidential candidate.
- All29 of North Dakota's Republican delegates were unpledged.
- Wyoming'sthree party leader delegates were unpledged.
- All18 delegates from American Samoa (9) and Guam (9) were unpledged. The Virgin Islands'three party leader delegates were also unpledged.
See also
- Presidential election, 2024
- Democratic National Convention, 2024
- Democratic convention nomination, 2024
- Republican National Convention, 2024
Footnotes
- ↑Council on Foreign Relations, "The Role of Delegates in the U.S. Presidential Nominating Process," February 9, 2016
- ↑2.02.1Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑Democratic National Committee, "Delegate Selection Rules for the 2020 Democratic National Convention," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑4.04.14.24.3Congressional Research Service, "The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions," December 30, 2015
- ↑Politico, "DNC 'unity' panel recommends huge cut in superdelegates," December 9, 2017
- ↑NPR, "DNC Group Calls For Drastic Cut In 'Superdelegates' As Part Of Nomination Process," December 9, 2017
- ↑Pew Research Center, "Who are the Democratic superdelegates?" May 5, 2016
- ↑Politico, "Democrats strip superdelegates of power in picking presidential nominee," August 25, 2018
- ↑Republican National Committee, "The Rules of the Republican Party," amended April 14, 2022
- ↑The Green Papers, "The Green Papers Presidential Primaries 2020 Republican Pledged and Unpledged Delegate Summary," accessed May 9, 2019
