Each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and territories of the United States holds either primary elections or caucuses to help nominate individual candidates for president of the United States. This process is designed to choose the candidates that will represent their political parties in the general election.
The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballots, Iowans instead gather at local caucus meetings to discuss and vote on the candidates. During both the presidential and midterm election seasons, registered Iowan voters vote in a per-precinct caucus for the party of which they are registered as a member. The caucuses are also held to select delegates to county conventions and party committees, among other party activities.
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating conventions can be won on Super Tuesday, more than on any other day. The results on Super Tuesday are therefore a strong indicator of the likely eventual nominee of each political party.
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention. The primary goal of the Democratic National Convention is to officially nominate a candidate for president and vice president, adopt a comprehensive party platform and unify the party. Pledged delegates from all fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the American territories, and superdelegates which are unpledged delegates representing the Democratic establishment, attend the convention and cast their votes to choose the party's presidential candidate. Like the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention marks the formal end of the primary election period and the start of the general election season. Since the 1980s the national conventions have lost most of their importance and become mostly just ceremonial coronation events for the respective candidate, as since the full establishment of primary contests in that time the winning nominees of both parties have always been clear long time before the convention. In 2020, both major parties, and many minor parties, replaced their usual in-person conventions with virtual programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically.
From January 19 to June 8, 2004, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 2004 United States presidential election. Incumbent President George W. Bush was again selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2004 Republican National Convention held from August 30 to September 2, 2004, in New York City.
The 2004 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2008 Vermont Democratic presidential primary was an open primary that took place on March 4, 2008. Barack Obama won the primary, his only decisive win among the four March 4 contests. The primary determined the 15 pledged delegates that represented Vermont at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The delegates were awarded to the candidates, Obama and Hillary Clinton, on a proportional basis. Vermont also sent 8 unpledged "superdelegates", to the convention not bound by the results of the primary.
The 2008 Texas Democratic presidential primary and caucuses were a series of events to determine the delegates that the Texas Democratic Party sent to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Delegates were selected using results from two sources: the Texas Presidential Primary held on March 4 by the Secretary of State of Texas's office, and a series of caucus events held between March 4 and June 7 by the Texas Democratic Party. The indecisive results of Super Tuesday, and the fact that Texas had the largest number of delegates among the states remaining on the Democratic primary calendar, resulted in the Texas primary receiving significant attention from both the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns.
The 2004 Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary took place on April 27, 2004. It was open to registered Democrats only.
The 2004 Oklahoma Democratic presidential primary, part of the process of selecting that party's nominee for President of the United States, took place on February 3, one of the seven nominating contests of 2004's "Mini-Tuesday". The primary election chose 40 pledged delegates to represent Oklahoma at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The remainder of Oklahoma's 47 delegates consisted of unpledged superdelegates not bound by the results of the primary. The election was a closed primary, meaning that only registered Democrats could vote in this election. Wesley Clark won the primary by a razor-thin margin over John Edwards.
The 2004 Maine Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 8, 2004 as part of the 2004 United States Democratic presidential primaries. The delegate allocation is Proportional. the candidates are awarded delegates in proportion to the percentage of votes received and is open to registered Democrats only. A total of 24 delegates are awarded proportionally.
The 2004 Nevada Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 14, 2004 as part of the 2004 United States Democratic presidential primaries. The delegate allocation is Proportional. The candidates were awarded delegates in proportion to the percentage of votes received and the caucus was open to registered Democrats only. A total of 20 delegates are awarded proportionally. A 15 percent threshold was required to receive delegates. Frontrunner John Kerry won the primary with Governor Howard Dean coming in a distant second. Kerry won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, but lost the general election to incumbent George W. Bush.
The 2004 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary took place on February 17, 2004 as part of the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The delegate allocation is Proportional. The candidates are awarded delegates in proportion to the percentage of votes received and is open to registered Democrats only. A total of 72 delegates are awarded proportionally. A 15 percent threshold is required to receive delegates. John Kerry won the primary with John Edwards coming in second.
The 2004 Maryland Democratic presidential primary took place on March 2, 2004 as part of the 2004 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The delegate allocation is proportional; candidates are awarded delegates in proportion to the percentage of votes received, open to registered Democrats only. Frontrunner John Kerry won the primary with former Senator John Edwards coming in a distant second.
The 1936 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 3, 1936, as part of the 1936 United States presidential election. State voters chose 29 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1932 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 8, 1932, as part of the 1932 United States presidential election. State voters chose 29 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2004 Vermont Democratic presidential primary took place on March 2, 2004, as part of Super Tuesday along with other primaries and caucuses held throughout the country. Vermont's 15 pledged delegates were allocated based on the results of the primary.
The 2004 Libertarian Party presidential primaries allowed voters to indicate non-binding preferences for the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate. These differed from the Republican or Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses in that they did not appoint delegates to represent a candidate at the party's convention to select the party's nominee for the United States presidential election. The party's nominee for the 2004 presidential election was chosen directly by registered delegates at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention, which ran from May 28 to 31, 2008. The delegates nominated Michael Badnarik for president and Richard Campagna for vice president.
