superdelegate

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

Updated on: 27 Feb 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

A month later, Brown, whose district reached into Orlando before it was redrawn last year, cast her vote as a superdelegate for Hillary Clinton’s nomination for president.

— jason ruiter, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown reports to prison, faces 'rough road'," 30 Jan. 2018
In 2016, superdelegates overwhelmingly preferred Clinton to Sanders.

— jim geraghty, National Review, "The Berniecrats Regroup," 29 Jan. 2018
Few races reflect the challenge and potential more than the U.S. Senate race where Democrat Beto O’Rourke, a one time Hillary Clinton superdelegate, touts issues that sound like a page straight from a Sanders platform book.

— jeremy wallace, San Antonio Express-News, "Texas Dems quandary: embrace Sanders or not?," 30 Dec. 2017
Created in the wake of the 1970s, when vast regional and ideological differences divided the Democratic party, superdelegates were supposed to correct any errors that the voters might have made.

— jay cost, National Review, "Our Presidential Nomination Process Is an Embarrassing Mess," 11 Dec. 2017
In 2016, all superdelegates were allowed to support either candidate.

— Washington Post, "Dems prepare to curtail superdelegates ahead of 2020," 8 Dec. 2017
This result didn’t accomplish the Sandernista goal of abolishing superdelegates altogether, but was considered a sound compromise by those Sanders supporters who were interested in one.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Sanders-Clinton Commission Agrees on Changes to Make the Primaries More Open," 11 Dec. 2017
While most superdelegates are elected to a public or party office, the at-large DNC members are chosen by party leaders.

— jennifer epstein, Bloomberg.com, "Democrats Plan to Name Lobbyists, Operatives as Superdelegates," 18 Oct. 2017
Still, the incident underscores Brazile's disillusionment with the Clinton campaign — a stunning and explosive break for a veteran of the party’s establishment who had been a superdelegate for Clinton.

— alex seitz-wald, NBC News, "Book Says DNC’s Brazile Considered Replacing Clinton as Nominee," 4 Nov. 2017

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.