U.S. ELECTIONS | Guide to the 2008 Election
04 January 2008
The Path to the 2008 Presidential Nomination
Candidates collect delegates toward their party nominations
To become a party's nominee for president, a candidate has to win a majority of the votes that will be cast by delegates to the party's convention this summer. Delegates are divided among states proportionally.
Most of the delegates are "pledged" to the candidate who wins the state's primary or caucus. Each party in each state has its own guidelines for awarding delegates. Some states divide their delegations proportionately (based on the proportion of support for candidates in the primary or caucus). Others have a winner-take-all system. Some states' party leaders select a few "unpledged" delegates as well. These delegates can vote for any candidate.
During the primaries and caucuses, Democrats will select 4,364 delegates. However, the Democratic Party has said it does not plan to count Michigan's 128 pledged delegates or Florida's 185 pledged delegates at its convention because those states violated party rules by holding their primaries prior to February 5. If these delegates are counted, then a majority of 2,183 delegates are needed to win.
Republicans will elect at least 2,380 delegates, although it is possible the number could be higher if the party revokes its punishment of Wyoming, New Hampshire, Michigan, Florida and South Carolina for scheduling their primaries before February 5. Currently, these states stand to lose half their delegations. As of now, a Republican candidate needs 1,191 delegates to win.
At the Iowa caucuses January 3, Democrat Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and the other contenders, while Republican Mike Huckabee also beat several competitors. (See related article.)
In Iowa, delegates are not actually pledged until later this year at a state convention, and some of the state's delegates are unpledged. News media have estimated the likely number of delegates each candidate may receive, based on the percentage of the vote they won at the caucuses.
According to The Green Papers, an online organization tracking the delegates’ race, Obama likely will receive 17 delegates and Clinton and Edwards each will receive 14. Huckabee likely will receive at least 13 delegates, followed by Mitt Romney with nine, John McCain and Fred Thompson each with five, Ron Paul with four and Rudy Giuliani with one.
