Washington Democratic caucuses, 2008

The 2008 Washington Democratic caucuses are a series of events held by the Washington State Democratic Party to determine the delegates that the Party will send to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Delegates are selected in a four-tier process that begins with precinct caucuses, is further refined in legislative district caucuses and/or county conventions, is concluded for some delegates in the congressional district caucuses, and finally is 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 does not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.cite news |title=In Washington State Vote, Relevance Is an Issue |first=William |last=Yardley |work=The New York Times |date=2008-02-18 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/us/politics/18washington.html?ref=politics ]

Delegate breakdown

The Washington State Democratic Party sends a total of 97 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 78 are pledged and 19 are unpledged. The 78 pledged delegates are 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 (popularly called "superdelegates" because their vote represents the decision of a single person rather than the regular delegate's vote representing the collective decision of many voters) are free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and are selected by the Washington State Democratic Party's officials and the pledged delegates.cite web |title=Washington State Delegate Selection Plan For The 2008 Democratic National Convention |publisher=Washington State Democratic Party |date=2007-08-23 |url=http://www.wa-democrats.org/pdf/uploaded/2008%20WA%20Delegate%20Selection%20and%20AA%20Plan%20-%20DNC%20Approved%20Final%20-%20070823%20-%20X.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-04-29] cite web |last=Berg-Andersson |first=Richard |title=Washington Democrat Presidential Nominating Process |publisher=The Green Papers |date=2008-03-01 |url=http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/WA-D.phtml |accessdate=2008-03-05]

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

Of the 19 unpledged delegates, 17 were selected in advance and 2 are selected at the State Convention. The delegates selected in advance are 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.

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 Rodham Clinton earlier in the nomination season. [cite news |first=Seattle Times Staff |title=Murray endorses Clinton |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004155427_murray31m.html |publisher=Seattle Times Company |date=2008-01-31 |accessdate=2008-02-08] The week before the caucuses, Senator Barack Obama was endorsed by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire. [cite news |first=Chris |last=McGann |title=Gregoire endorses Obama |url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/350591_gregoire09.html |publisher=Seattle PI |date=2008-02-08 |accessdate=2008-02-08]

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. [ [http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=266 Washington State Democrats - Caucuses FAQ ] ] 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. [cite web |title=The 2008 Washington State Democratic Caucus-Convention Cycle |publisher=46th District Democrats |date=2007-12-02 |url=http://www.46dems.com/2008/caucuscycle.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-04-25] There are 49 Legislative Districts in Washington State. Each district was alocated a certain number of delegates.cite web |last=Ravens |first=Jaxon |title=Delegates and Alternates Allocated to each County and Legislative District for the Congressional District Caucuses and the State Convention |publisher=34th District Democrats |date= |url=http://www.34dems.org/Docs2008/2008-State-Delegate-Allocation.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-04-25] 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.cite web |title=Washington State Democrats - Legislative District Caucuses |publisher=Washington State Democratic Party |url=http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=294 |accessdate=2008-04-25] cite web |title=Washington State Democrats - County Conventions |publisher=Washington State Democratic Party |url=http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=295 |accessdate=2008-04-25]

April 5

Legislative District caucuses:
*1st through 6th
*8th
*11th
*12th
*16th (Benton County portion only, held at the 8th LD caucus)
*21st
*25th through 34th
*36th through 39th
*40th (San Juan County portion only)
*41st through 48th

County Convention:
*Whatcom (40th LD)

April 12

County Conventions:
*Clallam (24th LD)
*Franklin (9th & 16th LDs)
*Grays Harbor (19th, 24th & 35th LDs)
*Kitsap (23rd & 35th LDs)
*Kittitas (13th LD)
*Pend Oreille (7th LD)
*Skagit (10th & 40th LDs)

April 13

County Convention:
*Snohomish (10th LD)

April 19

County Conventions:
*Asotin (9th LD)
*Chelan (13th LD)
*Clark (15th, 17th, 18th & 49th LDs)
*Cowlitz (18th & 19th LDs)
*Ferry (7th LD)
*Grant (13th LD)
*Island (10th LD)
*Klickitat (15th LD)
*Lewis (20th LD)
*Licoln (7th LD)
*Mason (35th LD)
*Okanogan (7th LD)
*Pacific (19th LD)
*Skamania (15th LD)
*Spokane (7th & 9th LDs)
*Stevens (7th LD)
*Thurston (20th, 22nd & 35th LDs)
*Wahkiakum (19th LD)
*Whitman (9th LD)
*Yakima (13th, 14th & 15th LDs)

April 20

County Convention:
*Walla Walla (16th LD)

April 26

County Convention:
*Jefferson (24th LD)

Unknown date

County Conventions:
*Adams (9th LD)
*Garfield (9th LD)
*Columbia (16th LD)

Congressional district caucuses

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

* CD 1: 6
* CD 2: 6
* CD 3: 5
* CD 4: 3
* CD 5: 5
* CD 6: 6
* CD 7: 9
* CD 8: 6
* CD 9: 5

State convention

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

Polls

Results

Precinct caucuses

Caucus date: February 9, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

Legislative district caucuses and county conventions

Dashes indicate districts for which results are not yet available or have not yet taken place.

Caucus/Convention dates: April 5–26, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

See also

* Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
* Washington Republican caucuses, 2008

References