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Superdelegates from West Virginia, 2016
 2016 Democratic National Convention | |
July 25-28, 2016 Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |
President Hillary Clinton Vice President Tim Kaine | |
Platform and Platform Committees • Standing Committee on Rules • Democratic National Committee • Brokered conventions | |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 | |
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West Virginia sent a total of eight superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. They are listed below beneath the candidate they are known to have supported as of July 11, 2016.
West Virginia superdelegates
Clinton
Sanders
What is a superdelegate?
Superdelegates in 2016 were automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention, meaning that, unlike regular delegates, they were not elected to this position. Also unlike regular delegates, they were not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate, and they were not bound by the results of their state's presidential primary election or caucus. In 2016, superdelegates included members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, and distinguished party leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents. All superdelegates were free to support any presidential candidate of their choosing at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[1]
West Virginia primary results
Bernie Sanders won the West Virginia Democratic primary. With 99 percent of precincts reporting in, he defeated Hillary Clinton 51 to 36 percent. Sanders won all 55 counties in the state. According to the television network exit poll, a representative sampling of voters as they left their precinct polling stations, roughly 90 percent of the Democratic electorate in West Virginia was white, more than half of whom supported Sanders. About one-third of white voters backed Clinton, while the rest backed lesser-known Democratic candidates such as Paul Farrell Jr. and Keith Judd. For more on how the vote unfolded in West Virginia's Democratic primary, see Sanders, Trump take May 10 primaries.
| West Virginia Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
 Bernie Sanders |
51.4% | 124,700 | 18 | |
| Hillary Clinton | 35.8% | 86,914 | 11 | |
| Paul Farrell | 8.9% | 21,694 | 0 | |
| Keith Judd | 1.8% | 4,460 | 0 | |
| Martin O'Malley | 1.6% | 3,796 | 0 | |
| Roque De La Fuente | 0.4% | 975 | 0 | |
| Totals | 242,539 | 29 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and West Virginia Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
West Virginia had 37 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 29 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide primary results.[2][3]
Eight party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.[2][4]
See also
- Superdelegates and the 2016 Democratic National Convention
- Presidential election in West Virginia, 2016
- Democratic National Convention, 2016
- Democratic National Committee
Footnotes
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions," December 30, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Democratic National Committee, "2016 Democratic National Convention Delegate/Alternate Allocation," updated February 19, 2016
- ↑ The Green Papers, "2016 Democratic Convention," accessed May 7, 2021
- ↑ Democratic National Committee's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection, "Unpledged Delegates -- By State," May 27, 2016
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