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2008 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses

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Candidate Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Home state Illinois New York Delegate count 52 26 Popular vote 21,768 10,038 Percentage 67.56% 31.15%

Caucus results by county Obama:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90–100%      100%

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The 2008 Washington Democratic presidential caucuses were a series of events held by the Washington State Democratic Party to determine the delegates that the Party sent to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Delegates were selected in a four-tier process that began with precinct caucuses, was further refined in legislative district caucuses and/or county conventions, concluded for some delegates in the congressional district caucuses, and finally 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 did not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.

Delegate breakdown

The Washington State Democratic Party sent a total of 97 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 78 were pledged and 19 were unpledged. The 78 pledged delegates were 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 were popularly called "superdelegates" because their vote represented their personal decisions, whereas the regular delegates' votes represented the collective decision of many voters. The superdelegates were free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and were selected by the Washington State Democratic Party's officials and the pledged delegates.

The 78 pledged delegates were further divided into 51 district delegates and 27 statewide delegates. The 51 district delegates were divided among Washington's 9 Congressional Districts and were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the caucus results in each District. The 27 statewide delegates were divided into 17 at-large delegates and 10 Party Leaders and Elected Officials (abbreviated PLEOs). They were 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 were selected at the State Convention. The delegates selected in advance were 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 Clinton earlier in the nomination season. The week before the caucuses, Senator Barack Obama was endorsed by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.

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. 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. There are 49 Legislative Districts in Washington State. Each district was allocated a certain number of delegates. 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.

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)
• Lincoln (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 were chosen at the nine congressional district caucuses. Each district was 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 were chosen at the state convention, twenty-seven of which were pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Seventeen of these pledged delegates were "at-large" delegates that did not represent a specific Washington congressional district, and ten were party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs).

Polls

Results

Precinct caucuses

Caucus date: February 9, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

Primary

The Washington State Democratic Party did not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.

Primary date: February 19, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

Legislative district caucuses and county conventions

Dashes indicate districts for which results are unavailable.

Caucus/Convention dates: April 5–26, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 78)

Congressional district caucuses

Caucus date: May 17, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 51 (of 78)

State convention

Convention date: June 13–15, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 27 (of 78)

See also

• 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries
• 2008 Washington Republican presidential caucuses and primary

References

1. ^ Yardley, William (February 18, 2008). "In Washington State Vote, Relevance Is an Issue". The New York Times.
2. ^ "Washington State Delegate Selection Plan For The 2008 Democratic National Convention". Washington State Democratic Party. August 23, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
3. ^ Berg-Andersson, Richard (March 1, 2008). "Washington Democrat Presidential Nominating Process". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 5, 2008.
4. "Murray endorses Clinton". Seattle Times Company. January 31, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
5. McGann, Chris (February 8, 2008). "Gregoire endorses Obama". Seattle PI. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
6. ^ "Washington State Democratic Party". Washington State Democratic Party.
7. "The 2008 Washington State Democratic Caucus-Convention Cycle" (PDF). 46th District Democrats. December 2, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
8. ^ Ravens, Jaxon. "Delegates and Alternates Allocated to each County and Legislative District for the Congressional District Caucuses and the State Convention" (PDF). 34th District Democrats. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 9, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
9. "Washington State Democrats - Legislative District Caucuses". Washington State Democratic Party. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
10. "Washington State Democrats - County Conventions". Washington State Democratic Party. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
11. "Caucus Results by Jurisdiction". Washington State Democratic Party. February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
12. "President - Democratic Party Federal (Statewide)". Washington Secretary of State. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on May 7, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
13. DeGolier, Cheryl (April 6, 2008). "LD Caucus Results and Observations". Snohomish County Democrats. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
14. "Yelm Starts Democrat Caucuses". The Olympian Online. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
15. "2008 Legislative District Caucuses". 5th District Democrats. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
16. Brewer, Andrew. "Final Credentials Report April 5th 6th LD Caucus". 6th Legislative District Democrats. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
17. Brede, Alene. "April 5th 11th LD Preliminary Caucus Results". 11th Legislative District Democrats. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
18. The 20th LD met at 2 different places: the Thurston and Lewis County Conventions. Thurston County portion "Caucus Results". Thurston County Democrats. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2008. Lewis County Portion "Delegates elected to state". Lewis County Democrats. Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
19. "Caucus Results". Thurston County Democrats. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
20. "LD Caucus Results were". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
21. The 24th LD met at 3 different places: the Clallam, Grays Harbor, and Jefferson County Conventions. Clallam County portion "2008 Elected Delegates". Clallam Democrats. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2008. Jefferson County Portion "Results of the Jefferson County Convention, April 26, 2008". Jefferson County Democrats. Retrieved May 15, 2008. Grays Harbor portion (still waiting)
22. Stokes, Charley. "HUNDREDS OF ENTHUSIASTIC DEMOCRATS FILL PHS AUDITORIUM" (PDF). 25th Legislative District Democrats. Retrieved May 10, 2008.
23. "www.26dems.org/Pages/caucus.htm". Archived from the original on May 9, 2008.
24. "27th LD CD Caucus and WS Convention Del and Alt 2008" (PDF). 27th Legislative District Democrats. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 9, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
25. "www.31stdistrictdemocrats.org/LDcaucusdelegates.htm". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011.
26. "32ld.snohomishdemocrats.org/?q=2008_LD_Caucus". Archived from the original on July 5, 2013.
27. "www.33rddems.org/caucus2008.php".
28. "www.34dems.org/news_caucus-2008-ldresults.htm". Archived from the original on May 11, 2012.
29. The 35th LD met at 4 different places: the Mason, Thurston, Grays Harbor, and Kitsap County Conventions. Mason County portion "Results". Mason County Democratic Central Committee. Retrieved April 28, 2008. Thurston County portion: "Caucus Results". Thurston County Democrats. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
30. ^ "www.37dems.org/".
31. "www.snohomishdemocrats.org/?q=node/462". Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
32. "wa-democrats-39ld.org/". Archived from the original on July 22, 2013.
33. The 40th LD met at 3 different places: the Whatcom County Convention, the Skagit County Convention, and San Juan county's 40th LD caucus. Skagit County portion: "Delegates by the Numbers". Skagit Valley Herald. April 13, 2008. pp. A-6. Whatcom County portion: McClendon, Natalie (April 12, 2008). "Local Democrats Elect Delegates to Congressional District Caucus". Whatcom County Democrats. Retrieved April 28, 2008. San Juan portion: "San Juan 2008 Results of the 40th Legislative District Caucus". Democrats of San Juan County Washington. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
34. "41st Legislative District Caucus Results". 41st District Democrats. April 11, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
35. McClendon, Natalie (April 12, 2008). "Local Democrats Elect Delegates to Congressional District Caucus". Whatcom County Democrats. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
36. "Caucus Results". 43rd District Democrats of Washington. Archived from the original on August 23, 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
37. DeWitt, Rick. "Legislative District Caucus". 44th Legislative District Democrats of Washington State. Archived from the original on August 19, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
38. "45th LD Democrats - Caucus Information". 45th District Democrats. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
39. "WA46Dems - LD Caucus Results". 46th District Democrats. Archived from the original on June 29, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2008.
40. "LD Caucus Results". 47th District Democrats. Archived from the original on June 26, 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2008.
41. "LD Caucus Results". 48th District Democrats. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
42. "WA National Delegate List". Obama Campaign. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
43. Derived by deducting reported Obama numbers from total delegates for each CD.
44. DeGolier, Cheryl (May 19, 2008). "1st Congressional District Caucus Results". 1st District Democrats. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
45. "CD Caucus Results". 46th District Democrats. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.

• 2008 United States Democratic presidential primaries by state
• Washington (state) Democratic caucuses
• 2008 Washington (state) elections
• February 2008 events in the United States