superdelegate

noun su·per·del·e·gate \ ˈsü-pər-ˌde-li-gət \

|Updated on: 2 Jul 2018

Definition of superdelegate

US politics

: a person who is chosen as a delegate to a political party's presidential nominating convention because of his or her status as a leader or official within the party and who is free to vote for any candidate regardless of the results of the popular vote in primary elections and caucuses preceding the convention

Superdelegates were invented by the Democrats after the 1980 election in the expectation that in any future close nomination race, they would line up behind the establishment candidate and head off the possibility of a ruinous floor fight at the convention.
—Matt Bai

Recent Examples of superdelegate from the Web

In the past, superdelegates were able to vote on the first ballot at the convention, for any nominee.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "A defining debate for Florida politics," 28 June 2018
Some committee members, including many who represent minority communities, argued excluding superdelegates on the first ballot was tantamount to voter disenfranchisement.

— adam levy, CNN, "Congressional Democrats could lose their status as DNC superdelegates," 13 June 2018
The Congressional Black Caucus wrote an open letter to party leadership in 2016 opposing the elimination of superdelegates and open primaries.

— terrell jermaine starr, The Root, "The Progressive Revolution Is Being Led by a Black Woman," 10 Apr. 2018
Other superdelegates include former Democratic presidents, governors, senators and DNC members.

— adam levy, CNN, "Congressional Democrats could lose their status as DNC superdelegates," 13 June 2018
During a two-hour-plus meeting with a group of House Democrats at DNC headquarters, Perez laid out two options under consideration for superdelegates by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Just a reminder: A republic, not a democracy," 7 June 2018
Taking an initial step, the DNC voted in March to accept a committee report calling for reducing the influence of superdelegates, among other changes.

— nicole gaudiano, USA TODAY, "DNC Chair backs plan to effectively eliminate key role of 'super delegates' in nomination process," 5 June 2018
At the 2016 convention, unpledged superdelegates accounted for about 15 percent of the all presidential nominating votes.

— bill barrow, BostonGlobe.com, "Democrats say they’ll limit superdelegates, but don’t say how," 11 Mar. 2018
At the 2016 convention, unpledged superdelegates accounted for about 15 percent of the all presidential nominating votes.

— bill barrow, BostonGlobe.com, "Democrats say they’ll limit superdelegates, but don’t say how," 11 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'superdelegate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.