Pennsylvania Primary Election 2008
Delegate FAQ
The tight race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has drawn attention to the role delegates play in the presidential nomination process. On April 22nd, Pennsylvania voters will not only vote for their preferred presidential candidate, but will vote for delegates to each party’s national convention as well. Delegates are the individuals who actually choose each party’s presidential nominee, with the popular vote playing a factor.
On the Philadelphia ballot, presidential candidates are at the top of the ticket and delegates appear closer to the bottom. The basic rule is that your vote for a presidential candidate will help determine the number of delegates that candidate gets at the convention. In other words, the total popular vote determines the proportion of delegates each candidate receives. Your votes for the delegates determine which individuals represent your congressional district at the party’s national convention, so essentially there are two separate but related races taking place.
The Committee of Seventy has put together an easy to understand FAQ on delegates and the nomination process:
What is a delegate?
In the context of the presidential election, a delegate is someone who is either elected or chosen to attend a political party’s national convention.
What do delegates do?
The most important job delegates will do is to select, by a majority vote, who will be their political party’s nominees for President and Vice President of the United States. This vote takes place once every four years at each party’s national convention.
Convention delegates are also responsible for developing the party's official platform, including the proposals and policies of the national organization, and establishing or amending party regulations.
Who are delegates and how are they chosen in Pennsylvania?
Historically, delegates are individuals connected to the local party in some way. The majority of delegates are elected by the general public. Any registered party member can run for election in the spring primary for a convention seat. In both the Democratic and Republican parties, publicly elected delegates represent the United States Congressional Districts in which they reside and are elected by the party members of those districts. The remainder of the Democratic and Republican delegates to each party’s national convention are not elected, but are instead selected by the parties between now and the conventions.
Democratic Party:
The Democratic Party uses a proportional system to allocate pledged delegates to a particular candidate. In Pennsylvania, delegate apportionment is by congressional district. Essentially, votes for the presidential candidates determine the number of delegates each candidate gets at the convention; popular vote determines that proportion. Votes for the delegates determine which individuals represent the district at the Democratic National Convention. Delegates on the Democratic ballot are “pledged” to a particular candidate, but you can vote for any of the delegates on the list.
For a Democratic presidential candidate to receive any delegate for a particular district, he or she must get at least 15% of the popular vote in that district.
Republican Party:
The Republican Party in Pennsylvania also uses a proportional system by congressional district. As in the Democratic Party, votes for particular delegates determine which individuals represent the district at the Republican National Convention. In Pennsylvania, each congressional district is allotted 3 delegates, except for those districts which, because of their hard work and dedication to the party, receive an extra delegate. (Four congressional districts in Pennsylvania will send 4 delegates.) These district delegates are unpledged to a particular candidate when they are elected.
What is a “pledged” delegate?
A pledged delegate is someone who is “committed” to a particular candidate, meaning the delegate will vote for the particular candidate’s nomination at the convention.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic presidential candidates must approve the list of their pledged delegates. In turn, a pledged delegate must sign a “pledge of support,” which means that, if elected as a convention delegate, he or she will vote for the candidate to whom he or she is pledged.
What is an “unpledged” delegate?
An “unpledged” delegate is someone who is not committed to a particular candidate and can “vote his or her conscience” at the convention.
What is an alternate delegate?
An alternate delegate is someone who fills in for a delegate if the delegate cannot fulfill his or her duties at the convention.
In the Democratic Party, alternate delegates are elected at the primary and chosen at the State Party Convention. An alternate will permanently take the place of a pledged delegate if the delegate dies or resigns before or during the convention. An alternate will temporarily take the place of pledged delegate if the delegate is absent for a limited period of time during the convention.
Republican alternates are elected at the primary.
What is a “super” delegate?
In the Democratic Party, 796 super delegates also attend the national convention but they are not elected at state primaries or caucuses.
Democratic super delegates are comprised of the Democratic members of Congress, Democratic Governors, Democratic National Committee officials and former chairs, former Presidents and Vice Presidents and former leaders of Congress. Super delegates are not bound by any rules as to which candidate they will vote for at the convention. As a result, candidates spend a lot of time before the convention courting their vote. Super delegates sometimes announce their endorsement well before the convention.
This year, Pennsylvania has 27 super delegates, including Governor Rendell, U.S. Senator Bob Casey and all Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. For the complete list of super delegates, including those representing Pennsylvania, click here.
How many delegates will Pennsylvania send to the Democratic National Convention in 2008?
Pennsylvania will send 188 elected and appointed delegates, and 26 alternates, to the Democratic National Convention. Here is how they are allocated:
- 158 pledged delegates
- 103 delegates are elected by party members within their U.S. Congressional District at the April 22nd primary.
- 20 delegates are party leaders or elected officials (PLEOs) who will be selected on June 7, 2008 at Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party Convention.
- 35 at-large delegates are selected on June 7, 2008 at Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party Convention.
- 30 unpledged delegates
- 27 PLEOs are super delegates. They automatically attend the national convention, which means they do not have to be selected at the June 7, 2008 Democratic Party Convention.
- 3 add-on delegates are elected on June 7, 2008 at the Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party Convention.
- 26 alternate delegates
- 16 alternate delegates are elected by party members within their U.S. Congressional District at the April 22nd primary.
- 10 alternate at-large delegates are selected on June 7, 2008 at the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Convention.
How many delegates will Pennsylvania send to the Republican National Convention in 2008?
Pennsylvania will send 74 elected and appointed delegates, and 71 alternates, to the Republican National Convention. Here is how they are allocated:
- 61 delegates
- 57 delegates are elected by party members within their U.S. Congressional District at the April 22nd primary. There are three delegates for each of Pennsylvania’s 19 Congressional districts.
- 4 extra delegates are given to the four congressional districts that have best supported the party. (In 2008, these are districts 4, 9, 18, 19.)
- 10 at-large delegates are selected by members of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania
- 3 party leader delegates: Pennsylvania’s Committeeman and Committeewoman to the National Republican Party and the Chair of Pennsylvania's Republican Party
- 71 alternates
Does the winner of the Democratic primary get all 188 delegates?
No. There are essentially two separate races taking place in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary.
The first race is between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Because the Democrats use a proportional system to allocate their pledged delegates, the percentage of the popular vote won by Clinton and Obama in each of the state’s 19 congressional districts will determine the number of pledged delegates from each district the candidates will have at the convention. For a Democratic presidential candidate to receive any delegate for a particular district, he or she must get at least 15% of the popular vote in a district.
Once it is determined how many delegates from each congressional district a candidate will have, the next question is who those delegates will be. Therefore, the second race – between delegates – is to decide which individuals will represent a particular congressional district at the Democratic National Convention.
Will my vote for a Democratic candidate “count” even if I don’t vote for delegates?
Yes. Because the number of delegates a Democratic candidate is awarded is determined by the popular vote, your presidential vote will still “count” even if you choose not to vote for delegates. The vote for delegates is important, however, because it determines who will represent your congressional district at the party’s national convention this summer.
In fact, you may vote for a delegate pledged to the opposite presidential candidate to increase that delegate’s chance of winning the delegate race. For example, if you support candidate A but your neighbor is running as a pledged delegate for candidate B, you can vote for your neighbor even if he is pledged to the other presidential candidate.
The unlikely worst case scenario is if no one in an entire congressional district votes for any delegates. However, the Democratic Party has in place a mechanism for filling delegate slates after the primary but before the convention if a presidential candidate qualifies for delegates but not enough are chosen for a particular district.
Why does it say “Male” and “Female” on the Democratic ballot?
The Democratic Party has an affirmative action policy to help ensure gender diversity among the delegates representing each congressional district. The Philadelphia ballot indicates the maximum number of delegates you can vote for, and the number of males and females who will represent the congressional district at the Democratic National Convention.
How are the party nominees for president chosen?
At each party’s national convention, the delegates select, by a majority vote, who will represent the party in the November election, i.e., delegates nominate the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
On the Democratic side, there are 3253 pledged delegates and 796 super delegates, for a total of 4049 (2025 to win). On the Republican side, there are 2380 delegates (1191 to win).
When and where are the party conventions?
The Democratic National Convention will take place August 25-28 in Denver, CO.
The Republican National Convention will take place September 1-4 in Minneapolis, MN.
After Pennsylvania, which states and territories are left to hold primaries (or caucuses)?
May 3: Guam caucus (D)
May 6: Indiana primary, North Carolina primary
May 13: Nebraska primary, West Virginia primary
May 17: Hawaii convention (R)
May 20: Kentucky primary, Oregon primary
May 27: Idaho primary (D)
June 3: Montana primary (D), New Mexico Primary (R), South Dakota primary
June 7: Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee Meeting
June 28: Nebraska convention (R)
For more information:
The Green Papers
RNC Call for the 2008 Republican National Convention (pdf)
Pennsylvania Republican Party Delegate Selection Plan
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Delegate Selection Plan
DNC Delegate Selection Rules (pdf)
DNC Call for the 2008 Democratic National Convention (pdf)
Delegate schedule and numbers – Democratic Party
Delegate schedule and numbers – Republican Party
Data chart from CQ Politics (for Democratic Party delegates) (pdf)
