2008 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses explained

Election Name:2008 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses
Country:Washington
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2004 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses
Previous Year:2004
Next Election:2016 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses
Next Year:2016
Image1:Barack Obama Senate portrait crop.jpg
Candidate1:Barack Obama
Colour1:800080
Home State1:Illinois
Delegate Count1:52
Popular Vote1:21,768
Percentage1:67.56%
Candidate2:Hillary Clinton
Colour2:D4AA00
Home State2:New York
Delegate Count2:26
Popular Vote2:10,038
Percentage2:31.15%
Map Size:300px
Outgoing Members:VI
Elected Members:ME

The 2008 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses were a series of events held by the Washington State Democratic Party to determine the delegates that the Party sent to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Delegates were selected in a four-tier process that began with precinct caucuses, was further refined in legislative district caucuses and/or county conventions, concluded for some delegates in the congressional district caucuses, and finally concluded for the remaining delegates at the state convention.

Washington also held a Democratic primary on February 19, 2008, but the Washington State Democratic Party did not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.[1]

Delegate breakdown

The Washington State Democratic Party sent a total of 97 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 78 were pledged and 19 were unpledged. The 78 pledged delegates were allocated (pledged) to vote for a particular candidate at the National Convention according to the results of Washington's four-step caucus process. The 19 unpledged delegates were popularly called "superdelegates" because their vote represented their personal decisions, whereas the regular delegates' votes represented the collective decision of many voters. The superdelegates were free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and were selected by the Washington State Democratic Party's officials and the pledged delegates.[2] [3]

The 78 pledged delegates were further divided into 51 district delegates and 27 statewide delegates. The 51 district delegates were divided among Washington's 9 Congressional Districts and were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the caucus results in each District. The 27 statewide delegates were divided into 17 at-large delegates and 10 Party Leaders and Elected Officials (abbreviated PLEOs). They were allocated to the presidential candidates at the State Convention based on the preference of the 51 district delegates on June 13–15.[2] [3]

Of the 19 unpledged delegates, 17 were selected in advance and 2 were selected at the State Convention. The delegates selected in advance were 7 Democratic National Committee members, the 2 Democratic U.S. Senators from Washington, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, the 6 Democratic U.S. Representatives from Washington, and the Democratic Governor of Washington, Christine Gregoire.[2] [3]

Delegate selection process

Precinct caucuses

The precinct caucuses took place on February 9, 2008. Washington's two U.S. Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton earlier in the nomination season.[4] The week before the caucuses, Senator Barack Obama was endorsed by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.[5]

The caucuses were open to all voters who would be 18 years old by November 4, 2008. To vote, participants completed a form with their contact information and candidate preference. The form also asked voters to sign an oath stating: "I declare that I consider myself to be a DEMOCRAT and I will not participate in the nomination process of any other political party for the 2008 Presidential election." In some caucus groups, members split into smaller groups according to the candidate they supported. Voters supporting non-viable candidates had the option of moving into viable groups, and voters in viable groups could change their preference.[6] Unlike other state Democratic Party caucuses, Washington does not require a 15% threshold for allocation of delegates at the precinct level. Rules state that any fractional delegates remaining are awarded to the candidate with the most votes that do not have delegates.

Legislative District caucuses and County conventions

The second tier of the delegate selection process involved choosing 2,000 Legislative District delegates (and 1,000 alternates) to send to the Congressional District conventions on May 17 and the State Convention on June 13–15.[7] There are 49 Legislative Districts in Washington State. Each district was allocated a certain number of delegates.[8] Delegates were elected at either Legislative District caucuses or County conventions. Each of Washington's 39 counties has a local Democratic Party organization that determined the event at which delegate selection would take place. Most counties chose to select delegates at Legislative District caucuses on April 5. The remaining counties selected delegates at sub-caucuses during their County Conventions, most of which were held on either April 12 or April 19. The breakdown of events by date is listed below.[9] [10]

April 5

Legislative District caucuses:

County Convention:

April 12

County Conventions:

April 13

County Convention:

April 19

County Conventions:

April 20

County Convention:

April 26

County Convention:

Unknown date

County Conventions:

Congressional district caucuses

Fifty-one delegates were chosen at the nine congressional district caucuses. Each district was allotted a different number of delegates:

State convention

Twenty-nine delegates were chosen at the state convention, twenty-seven of which were pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Seventeen of these pledged delegates were "at-large" delegates that did not represent a specific Washington congressional district, and ten were party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs).

Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Precinct caucuses

Caucus date: February 9, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

2008 Washington Democratic presidential precinct caucuses
96.4% of precincts reporting[11]
CandidatePrecinct delegatesPercentageEstimated national delegates
Barack Obama21,76867.56%52
Hillary Clinton10,03831.15%26
Other500.16%0
Uncommitted3641.13%0
Totals32,220100.00%78

Primary

The Washington State Democratic Party did not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.

Primary date: February 19, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

Key: Withdrew
prior to contest
2008 Washington Democratic presidential primary[12]
CandidateVotesPercentage
Barack Obama354,11251.22%
Hillary Clinton315,74445.67%
John Edwards11,8921.72%
Dennis Kucinich4,0210.58%
Bill Richardson2,0400.30%
Joe Biden1,8830.27%
Mike Gravel1,0710.15%
Christopher Dodd6180.09%
Totals691,381100.00%

Legislative district caucuses and county conventions

Dashes indicate districts for which results are unavailable.

Caucus/Convention dates: April 5–26, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

Washington Democratic Legislative District Caucuses
and County Conventions, 2008
61% of districts reporting
Legislative
District		Barack
Obama		Hillary
Clinton		Total State Delegates
from this LD
LD1[13] 321244
LD2[14] 261440
LD3––33
LD4––38
LD5[15] 361248
LD6[16] 291544
LD7––34
LD8––33
LD9––33
LD10––43
LD11[17] 261036
LD12––31
LD13––28
LD14––27
LD15––26
LD16––28
LD17––39
LD18––44
LD19––38
LD20[18] 251338
LD21––40
LD22[19] 361349
LD23[20] 341145
LD24[21] 281047
LD25[22] 261541
LD26[23] 281442
LD27[24] 271239
LD28––34
LD29––30
LD30––35
LD31[25] 221638
LD32[26] 361450
LD33[27] 231235
LD34[28] 381351
LD35[29] 15841
LD36[30] 521567
LD3738947
LD38[31] 231134
LD39[32] 271239
LD40[33] 36947
LD41[34] 361349
LD42[35] 331043
LD43[36] 531467
LD44[37] 301343
LD45[38] 331245
LD46[39] 451560
LD47[40] 271138
LD48[41] 301141
LD49––38
Totals9503692,000
Estimated
national delegates		0078

Congressional district caucuses

Caucus date: May 17, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 51 (of 78)

2008 Washington Democratic Congressional District Caucuses
0% of districts reporting
Congressional DistrictNational Delegates Obama[42] National Delegates Clinton[43] National Delegates Total
CD1[44] 426
CD2426
CD3325
CD4213
CD5325
CD6426
CD7[45] 729
CD8426
CD9325
Totals341751

State convention

Convention date: June 13–15, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 27 (of 78)

Washington Democratic State Convention, 2008
CandidateAt-Large and PLEO delegatesPercentageNational delegates
Barack Obama1866.67%52
Hillary Clinton933.33%26
Totals27100.00%78

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: In Washington State Vote, Relevance Is an Issue . William . Yardley . The New York Times . 2008-02-18 .
  2. Web site: Washington State Delegate Selection Plan For The 2008 Democratic National Convention . . 2007-08-23 . PDF . 2008-04-29 . http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080423204640/http%3A//www%2Ewa%2Ddemocrats%2Eorg/pdf/uploaded/2008%2520WA%2520Delegate%2520Selection%2520and%2520AA%2520Plan%2520%2D%2520DNC%2520Approved%2520Final%2520%2D%2520070823%2520%2D%2520X%2Epdf . 2008-04-23 . dead .
  3. Web site: Berg-Andersson . Richard . Washington Democrat Presidential Nominating Process . The Green Papers . 2008-03-01 . 2008-03-05.
  4. News: Murray endorses Clinton . Seattle Times Company . 2008-01-31 . 2008-02-08.
  5. News: Chris . McGann . Gregoire endorses Obama . Seattle PI . 2008-02-08 . 2008-02-08.
  6. Web site: Washington State Democratic Party. Washington State Democratic Party.
  7. Web site: The 2008 Washington State Democratic Caucus-Convention Cycle . 46th District Democrats . 2007-12-02 . PDF . 2008-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080827160906/http://www.46dems.com/2008/caucuscycle.pdf . 2008-08-27 . dead .
  8. Web site: Ravens . Jaxon . Delegates and Alternates Allocated to each County and Legislative District for the Congressional District Caucuses and the State Convention . 34th District Democrats . PDF . 2008-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080909224737/http://www.34dems.org/Docs2008/2008-State-Delegate-Allocation.pdf . 2008-09-09 . dead .
  9. Web site: Washington State Democrats - Legislative District Caucuses . Washington State Democratic Party . 2008-04-25 . 2008-04-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080423181536/http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=294 . dead .
  10. Web site: Washington State Democrats - County Conventions . Washington State Democratic Party . 2008-04-25 . February 7, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120207152901/http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=295 . dead .
  11. Web site: Caucus Results by Jurisdiction . . 2008-02-12 . 2008-02-12 . 2008-02-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080227202702/http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=273 . dead .
  12. Web site: President - Democratic Party Federal (Statewide) . Washington Secretary of State . 2008-03-07 . 2008-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080507212943/http://vote.wa.gov/elections/wei/Results.aspx?ElectionID=3&RaceID=0&RaceTypeCode=O . 2008-05-07 . dead .
  13. Web site: DeGolier . Cheryl . LD Caucus Results and Observations . Snohomish County Democrats . 2008-04-06 . 2008-04-27 .
  14. Web site: Yelm Starts Democrat Caucuses. The Olympian Online . https://archive.today/20140913224221/http://www.theolympian.com/election/story/410641.html . dead . 2014-09-13 . 2008-04-26 .
  15. Web site: 2008 Legislative District Caucuses . 5th District Democrats . 2008-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080410231154/http://5thdems.org/2008-legislative-district-caucuses/ . 2008-04-10 . dead .
  16. Web site: Brewer . Andrew . Final Credentials Report April 5th 6th LD Caucus . 6th Legislative District Democrats . 2008-04-28.
  17. Web site: Brede . Alene . April 5th 11th LD Preliminary Caucus Results . 11th Legislative District Democrats . 2008-04-28 .
  18. The 20th LD met at 2 different places: the Thurston and Lewis County Conventions. Thurston County portion Web site: Caucus Results . Thurston County Democrats . 2008-05-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080510134401/http://www.thurstondemocrats.org/node/731 . 2008-05-10 . dead . Lewis County Portion Web site: Delegates elected to state . Lewis County Democrats . 2008-05-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080420122751/http://www.lewiscountydemocrats.net/20thleg/index.htm . April 20, 2008 . mdy-all .
  19. Web site: Caucus Results . Thurston County Democrats . 2008-04-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080510134401/http://www.thurstondemocrats.org/node/731 . 2008-05-10 . dead .
  20. Web site: LD Caucus Results were . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/rt2-2k0E6pY . 2021-12-21 . live. 2008-05-10 .
  21. The 24th LD met at 3 different places: the Clallam, Grays Harbor, and Jefferson County Conventions. Clallam County portion Web site: 2008 Elected Delegates . Clallam Democrats . https://web.archive.org/web/20080509145446/http://www.clallamdemocrats.org/News%20%26%20Views/News%20%26%20Views.htm . 2008-05-09 . 2008-05-15 . dead . Jefferson County Portion Web site: Results of the Jefferson County Convention, April 26, 2008 . Jefferson County Democrats . 2008-05-15 . Grays Harbor portion (still waiting)
  22. Web site: Stokes . Charley . HUNDREDS OF ENTHUSIASTIC DEMOCRATS FILL PHS AUDITORIUM . 25th Legislative District Democrats . 2008-05-10 .
  23. Web site: www.26dems.org/Pages/caucus.htm. https://web.archive.org/web/20080509085205/http://www.26dems.org/Pages/caucus.htm. 2008-05-09. dead.
  24. Web site: 27th LD CD Caucus and WS Convention Del and Alt 2008 . 27th Legislative District Democrats . 2008-05-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080909224737/http://www.27thdems.org/documents/27th%20CD%20Caucus%20Dels%20%20Alts%202008.pdf . September 9, 2008 .
  25. Web site: www.31stdistrictdemocrats.org/LDcaucusdelegates.htm. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724204506/http://www.31stdistrictdemocrats.org/LDcaucusdelegates.htm. dead. 2011-07-24.
  26. Web site: 32ld.snohomishdemocrats.org/?q=2008_LD_Caucus. https://archive.today/20130705020136/http://32ld.snohomishdemocrats.org/?q=2008_LD_Caucus. dead. 2013-07-05.
  27. Web site: www.33rddems.org/caucus2008.php.
  28. Web site: www.34dems.org/news_caucus-2008-ldresults.htm. https://web.archive.org/web/20120511011925/http://www.34dems.org/news_caucus-2008-ldresults.htm. 2012-05-11. dead.
  29. The 35th LD met at 4 different places: the Mason, Thurston, Grays Harbor, and Kitsap County Conventions. Mason County portion Web site: Results . Mason County Democratic Central Committee . 2008-04-28. Thurston County portion: Web site: Caucus Results . Thurston County Democrats . 2008-04-28.
  30. Web site: www.37dems.org/ .
  31. Web site: www.snohomishdemocrats.org/?q=node/462 . April 25, 2008 . November 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181116075916/https://www.snohomishdemocrats.org/?q=node/462 . dead .
  32. Web site: wa-democrats-39ld.org/. https://web.archive.org/web/20130722142035/http://wa-democrats-39ld.org/. 2013-07-22. dead.
  33. The 40th LD met at 3 different places: the Whatcom County Convention, the Skagit County Convention, and San Juan county's 40th LD caucus. Skagit County portion: News: Delegates by the Numbers . Skagit Valley Herald . A-6 . 2008-04-13 . Whatcom County portion: Web site: McClendon . Natalie . Local Democrats Elect Delegates to Congressional District Caucus . Whatcom County Democrats . 2008-04-12 . 2008-04-28. San Juan portion: Web site: San Juan 2008 Results of the 40th Legislative District Caucus . Democrats of San Juan County Washington . 2008-04-28.
  34. Web site: 41st Legislative District Caucus Results . 41st District Democrats . 2008-04-11 . 2008-04-28.
  35. Web site: McClendon . Natalie . Local Democrats Elect Delegates to Congressional District Caucus . Whatcom County Democrats . 2008-04-12 . 2008-04-28.
  36. Web site: Caucus Results . 43rd District Democrats of Washington . 2008-04-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060823110920/http://www.43rddems.org/ . 2006-08-23 .
  37. Web site: DeWitt . Rick . Legislative District Caucus . 44th Legislative District Democrats of Washington State . 2008-04-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080819235047/http://www.44thdems.org/meetings/ld_caucus/index.html . August 19, 2008 .
  38. Web site: 45th LD Democrats - Caucus Information . 45th District Democrats . 2008-04-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080308110148/http://www.45thdemocrats.org/Caucus.php . 2008-03-08 . dead .
  39. Web site: WA46Dems - LD Caucus Results . 46th District Democrats . 2008-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080629024837/http://www.46dems.com/2008/ldcaucusresults.php . 2008-06-29 . dead .
  40. Web site: LD Caucus Results . 47th District Democrats . 2008-05-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060626234421/http://wa47dems.org/ . 2006-06-26 . dead .
  41. Web site: LD Caucus Results . 48th District Democrats . 2008-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100806210417/http://48thdems.org/content.php?pid=49 . 2010-08-06 . dead .
  42. Web site: WA National Delegate List . Obama Campaign . 2008-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080609042847/http://www.obamadelegates.org/page/WA+National+Delegate+List . 2008-06-09 . dead .
  43. Derived by deducting reported Obama numbers from total delegates for each CD.
  44. Web site: DeGolier . Cheryl . 1st Congressional District Caucus Results . 1st District Democrats . 2008-05-19 . 2008-05-20 .
  45. Web site: CD Caucus Results . 46th District Democrats . 2008-05-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080827160037/http://www.46dems.com/2008/cdcaucusresults.php . 2008-08-27 . dead .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "2008 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.