How to become a Delegate?

May 2, 2006 8:49 PM

How does one in California become a delegate for the Democratic National Convention?
posted by semmi to Law & Government (3 answers total)

Bleah. So far I've only been able to find this very dry excerpt of the California Elections Code pertaining to the selection of delegates.

I ran for delegate in California in 2004, so all the personal information I have is outdated, but I'd be happy to send it to you if you think it would be helpful. (Email in profile)

Meanwhile, if you haven't already done so, I recommend looking up your local officials and start volunteering with them and your local dem organizations in order to get your name out there. The more people who know you and your work, the better chance you have of being selected delegate.

Good luck!
posted by Space Kitty at 9:54 PM on May 2, 2006

Being selected as a delegate is essentially a reward from the party (Democratic or Republican) to its most active and dedicated volunteers. If you want to go to the convention, you have to be one of those people.
posted by jjg at 10:15 PM on May 2, 2006

There are at-large candidates selected from and by the party leadership as rewards to various interest groups.

Beyond that, there are geographical districts. Each candidate nominates X number of delegates from each district, and then is awarded Y number of delegates proportional to how that district voted in the primary. That's done in meetings where there's an election: I went with a friend one year to one such meeting, and watched as one teenage girl essentially brought her entire extended family and won the ballot that way. Of course, it was for Bill Bradley, so it's not clear to me she got to go to the convention.

The Democratic Party does some juggling to ensure gender and racial balance.
posted by commander_cool at 7:30 AM on May 3, 2006