From Nebraska to Denver:
2008 National Convention Information

When:August 25-28, 2008
Where:Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Lodging:Embassy Suites Denver Southeast

How to Get There:
To attend National Convention as a delegate, you must be elected at State Convention (or be a “Super Delegate” –– see below). To be eligible for election, you must download, complete, and turn in this application form.

Election to National Convention is an extremely competitive process. There are five types of delegates that will go to the National Convention:

District Level Delegate: Each Congressional District is allotted a number of delegates based on its performance in three areas: the number of registered Democrats, the number of votes cast for the Democratic candidate in the last Governor’s race (Hahn, 2006), and the number of votes cast in the last Presidential election (Kerry, 2004). Congressional Districts 1 and 2 each get to send 6 delegates to National Convention; CD 3 will send 4.

At State Convention, the delegates from each Congressional District will meet to elect the delegates from their CD. The proportion of Obama and Clinton delegates from each District is set by the results of the Presidential Caucus:

  • Congressional District 1 will have 4 Obama delegates and 2 Clinton delegates.
  • District 2 will have 5 Obama delegates and 1 Clinton delegates.
  • District 3 will have 2 Obama delegates and 2 Clinton delegates.

Each District’s delegates will be half men and half women.

To be eligible to serve as a District Level Delegate, one must have attended their local caucus and completed the delegate application form by May 30, 2008.

Unpledged Add-On Delegate: Nebraska will be sending one Unpledged Add-On Delegate to the National Convention. Like an Unpledged Party Leader Delegate (see below), this person is not pledged to a candidate and can vote for whomever they wish at the Convention. The whole State Convention will vote on who will fill this slot. Anyone is eligible, even those who did not fill out the delegate application form.

Unpledged Party Leader Delegate (“Superdelegates”): Delegates by virtue of their position within the Nebraska Democratic Party and/or Democratic National Committee, these people are not voted upon by the State Convention. They are also not pledged to any candidate, though some have publicly endorsed one. You can see Nebraska’s Unpledged Party Leader Delegates here at the bottom of the page.

Pledged Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO) Delegate: Mayors of large cities and elected officials serving in state government may apply for election as a Pledged PLEO Delegate. Nebraska has been allotted 3 such delegates, 2 pledged to Obama and 1 to Clinton (based on number of State Convention Delegates for each candidate). Caucus attendance is not a requirement, but completion of the delegate application form is necessary.

At-Large Delegate: Anyone may apply to serve as an At-Large Delegate. The State Convention will select 5 At-Large Delegates; 3 will be pledged to Obama and 2 to Clinton (based on number of State Convention Delegates for each candidate). Again, caucus attendance is not a requirement to serve as an At-Large Delegate, but completion of the delegate application form is necessary.

Alternates: Alternates will be selected after all Delegates have been chosen.

Note: Presidential candidates are afforded the “right of review” of all potential delegates to National Convention; a campaign may decide to narrow the number of candidates for any given delegate position. Please contact the NDP office with any questions.

Related:
Democratic National Convention Committee
Information on State Convention
Nebraska Caucus Results
National Delegate Application Form (due May 30, 2008)