superdelegate

noun

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

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

Examples of superdelegate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then there is the party’s new rule for 2020, in which superdelegates — party establishment insiders who are automatic delegates to the party’s convention — cannot vote on the first presidential ballot if the convention remains contested. — Marc Levy, The Seattle Times, "Surprise? Pennsylvania’s 2020 primary could be competitive," 25 Mar. 2019 Again, superdelegates have never actually tipped a nomination, at least through their floor votes. — Seth Masket, Vox, "Race is still the central dividing line in the Democratic Party," 26 Aug. 2018 Moore dutifully attacks the idiosyncrasies of the system, like the Electoral College and the Democratic Party’s system of superdelegates. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "In Fahrenheit 11/9, Michael Moore spares no one — especially self-satisfied liberals," 7 Sep. 2018 The Democratic National Committee voted Saturday to limit the influence of superdelegates -- part of a series of changes to the presidential nominating process to reunite the party after a rocky 2016 primary process. — Fox News, "DNC votes to limit influence of superdelegates in presidential nominating process," 25 Aug. 2018 Under the proposal, superdelegates would be able to vote for president at a convention only if no candidate received a majority on the first round of balloting. — Reid J. Epstein, WSJ, "Democrats Weigh Rolling Back Clout of ‘Superdelegates’," 24 Aug. 2018 The deal crafted in 2016 requires a final decision on superdelegates to be made by June 30; DNC Rules and Bylaws members are likely to make a final recommendation after a conference call, which has yet to be scheduled. — David Weigel, Washington Post, "Bernie Sanders supporter attends every DNC reform meeting. DNC member calls her a Russian plant.," 12 June 2018 Not everyone was pleased with the superdelegate change. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Still dealing with 2016 drama, Democrats vote to strip superdelegates of some of their power in 2020," 25 Aug. 2018 In 2016, the vast majority of the party’s superdelegates backed Hillary Clinton, helping her boost an insurmountable delegate lead ahead of the 2016 national convention. — Reid J. Epstein, WSJ, "DNC Votes to Bar Superdelegates From Convention’s First Presidential Ballot," 25 Aug. 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.