What is a "super delegate"?

Who are these “super delegates” getting so much attention in the media?

About 19% of the delegates at the Convention are “unpledged” and serve as delegates because of an office they hold or have held. While unpledged delegates may as a practical matter have a presidential preference and/or even publicly endorse a candidate, officially they serve at the Convention without being formally pledged to any candidate.

Unpledged delegates were created by the Party in 1982 for the 1984 Convention. In recommending the creation of unpledged delegates the Commission on Presidential Nomination (the Hunt Commission) sought a way to more effectively bring elected official and Party leader participation back into the Convention.

Collectively, unpledged delegates are a diverse group of individuals who come from all parts of the country and all walks of life. They include grassroots activists, county Party chairs and local elected officials.

The following categories describe the individuals who are recognized as unpledged delegates:

• DNC Members
  All of the members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) serve as unpledged delegates from their respective state or territory. This includes every State Democratic Party Chair and Vice Chair. Virtually all members of the DNC have been elected by their state party committees or Conventions, bodies of individuals who in turn have been elected by grassroots Democratic voters. These members of the DNC have earned their positions by doing the difficult, unglamorous work of building the party organization day in and day out, year after year – oftentimes when few others are paying attention.
• Democratic Governors and Members of Congress
  Every Democratic Governor is recognized as an unpledged delegate. As well, each Democratic member of the U.S. Senate and of the U.S. House of Representatives is also recognized as an unpledged delegate.
• Distinguished Party Leaders
  Several state delegations include individuals who serve as unpledged delegates because of an office they once held. Specifically, this category includes former Democratic Presidents and Vice Presidents, former Democratic Leaders of the United States Senate, former Democratic Speakers or Democratic Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, and former National and General Chairs of the DNC.
• Add-on Unpledged Delegates
  Each state also has an opportunity to include one or a small number of “Add-on” unpledged delegates within its delegation. These positions are intended to be filled by prominent individuals whom the state’s Democrats want to include as part of the delegation to the National Convention. Again, as unpledged delegates, these individuals serve because of their stature, rather than their presidential preference. States receive one Add-on unpledged delegate position for every four DNC members it elects.