The Road to Milwaukee — What You Need to Know About Delegates
Iowa’s caucus on Monday, February 3, kicks off the official 2020 Democratic presidential primary season. Candidates will compete to capture a majority (1,991) of the 3,979 pledged delegates up for grabs to secure the nomination on the first ballot at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee in July. How does a candidate actually do this?
Iowa is the first of four contests in February, followed by the New Hampshire primary on February 11, the Nevada caucus on February 22, and the South Carolina primary on February 29. This year’s calendar finds Super Tuesday (so named because 14 states, American Samoa, and Democrats abroad decide roughly 40 percent of the pledged delegate allocation) following close behind on March 3. The four “early states” aren’t what they used to be — California voters can begin voting by mail on February 3, and Texas voters begin casting ballots on February 18 although results won’t be known until March 3.
By the end of March, more than 50 percent of the pledged delegates at stake will be allocated.
The Democratic National Committee changed its nominating rules after the 2016 convention left bad blood between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Here are a few of the most important changes:
- The 766 automatic delegates (the so-called “superdelegates” who are elected Democratic officeholders) only come into play on a second ballot if necessary
- California’s primary and its 415 delegates moved to Super Tuesday from June
- Only four caucuses will be held (versus 18 in 2016) to increase voter access and participation
Delegates are allocated proportionally based on a candidate’s showing statewide or in a congressional district, and a candidate is eligible to receive a share of the pledged delegates at stake if they win at least 15 percent of votes cast versus a “winner-take-all” delegate model.
“Pledged delegates” are exactly that — bound to the candidate to whom they are pledged. In a contested convention (no candidate secures 1,991 delegates outright), pledged delegates cannot change their vote until after the first ballot. Few things are as guaranteed as quadrennial Democratic angst about the possibility of a contested or brokered convention. As NBC News points out, “The last time Democrats went into their convention without a presumptive nominee already having a majority of delegates was 1984. And you have to go all the way back to 1952 to find the last time it took multiple rounds of ballots to pick the standardbearer.”
