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 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, national conventions have become mostly inaugural events for the winning candidate, since winners are announced long 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.
From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African American to secure the presidential nomination of any major political party in the United States. However, due to a close race between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, the contest remained competitive for longer than expected; neither candidate received enough pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority, without endorsements from unpledged delegates (superdelegates).
The 2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucus occurred on January 3, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides. Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008, making him the first African American to win the caucus and the first African American to win a primary state since Jesse Jackson in 1988. Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third, though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards. Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event.
The results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries are the detailed outcomes of a series of contests by which members of the United States Democratic Party chose their candidate for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The contests are held in each of the fifty U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad. The Northern Mariana Islands was the lone U.S. state or territory which did not have a primary or caucus election in 2008. The outcomes include totals of delegates selected as well as popular votes.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2008 Oklahoma Democratic presidential primary, part of the process of selecting that party's nominee for President of the United States, took place on February 5, one of the many nominating contests of 2008's "Super Tuesday". The primary election chose 38 pledged delegates to represent Oklahoma at the 2008 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. Hillary Clinton won the primary by a significant margin.
The 2008 Kansas Democratic presidential caucuses took held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 21 delegates at stake. The remaining 11 delegates were selected at the Kansas Democratic Party District Conventions on April 12. The state, and a majority of its delegates, were won by Barack Obama.
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.
The 2008 Nebraska Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 9, 2008, where 24 of the state's 31 convention delegates were chosen. Like he did throughout many other states that held caucuses instead of primaries, Barack Obama won the Nebraska Democratic Caucus by more than a two-to-one margin of victory over Hillary Clinton. On May 13, 2008, the state also held a non-binding primary election which Obama also won but the margin of victory was considerably smaller.
The 2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary took place on March 4, 2008. It was an open primary. 21 delegates were awarded on a proportional basis. Rhode Island's delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention also included 11 superdelegates whose votes were not bound by the results of the primary election. Hillary Clinton won the primary.
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 2008 Oregon Democratic presidential primary was a mail-only primary in the U.S. state of Oregon. Ballots were mailed to registered Democratic voters between May 2 and May 6, 2008. To be counted, all ballots had to have been received by county elections offices by 8:00 p.m. PDT on May 20, 2008. It was a closed primary and voters had to have registered as Democrats by April 29, 2008 to be eligible to vote in any of the partisan races. Barack Obama won the presidential primary with 58% of the vote.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Washington took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
From January 3 to June 5, 2012, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2012 United States presidential election. President Barack Obama won the Democratic Party nomination by securing more than the required 2,383 delegates on April 3, 2012, after a series of primary elections and caucuses. He was formally nominated by the 2012 Democratic National Convention on September 5, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Democrats Abroad holds a primary awarding delegates to the Democratic National Convention to represent expatriate voters. This primary is conducted as part of the Democratic Party's presidential primaries. In some earlier elections, in place of a primary, a caucus system was used by Democrats Abroad to determine their convention delegations.
The 2020 Democrats Abroad Presidential Primary took place from March 3 to 10, 2020, allowing U.S. citizens residing outside the United States and those officially affiliated with Democrats Abroad to participate in the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination process. Spanning more than 230 voting locations worldwide, participants cast their in-person votes across various countries and continents. Alternative voting methods included e-mail and postal mail. The voting period started on Super Tuesday and concluded the Tuesday of the following week. The 2020 Democrats Abroad Global Primary allocated a total of 21 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Among these, 13 were pledged delegates, committed to supporting a specific candidate based on primary results, each holding a full vote. Additionally, 8 automatic delegates, unbound to any candidate and each possessing a half vote, contributed to a cumulative total of 17 votes.
The 2020 North Dakota Democratic presidential caucuses took place on March 10, 2020, as one of several states voting the week after Super Tuesday in the Democratic Party primaries and caucuses for the 2020 presidential election. While the contest has in effect been a party-run open primary for the first time in North Dakota's history, the state party retained the traditional caucus name, classifying it as a firehouse caucus. The state awarded 18 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 14 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the election.
The 2020 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary took place on June 2, 2020, after being postponed due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, as one of eight delayed and regular primaries on the same day in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. It was originally planned to take place on April 28, 2020, as one of several northeastern states in the "Acela primary". The Rhode Island primary was a semi-closed primary, with the state awarding 35 delegates, of whom 26 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the primary results.
