The 2008 Alaska Democratic presidential caucuses took place

Super Tuesday 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 co ...

, February 5, 2008. This was the first time that Democrats in Alaska participated in

, and the large turnout forced at least one caucusing site to delay closing its doors far beyond the 6 p.m. deadline. The state had a total of 13 delegates at stake.

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

won the Alaska Democratic Caucuses and secured 9 delegates to the

Democratic National Convention 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 ...

while

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

took 4 delegates. However, the caucus was non-binding, and Alaska's Democratic State Convention in May awarded Obama 10 pledged delegates.

Process

The Alaska Democratic Caucuses were open to all Alaska voters. Non-Democrats and unregistered voters could register or switch party affiliation at the meeting. At the caucus, voters "fanned out" to groups of supporters of their candidate. Then delegates to the state convention on May 24, 2008, were selected from these preference groups. At the district caucuses, candidates required a minimum support threshold of 15 percent to win delegates to the state convention. The same threshold applied at the state convention; candidates needed a support threshold of 15 percent to receive delegates at the Democratic National Convention. However, the district caucus results were not binding on the state convention delegates. Therefore, although Obama only won 9 delegate votes in the caucuses, at the state convention he secured 10. Unlike many caucus states, the actual number of votes in the Alaska caucuses was disclosed. Many states only tabulate state delegates or state delegate equivalents. The state convention officially allocated the 13 delegates to the national convention. In addition, the state convention chose five

superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for themselves for whom they vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up slightly under 15 ...

s to attend the national convention. Superdelegates officially were not pledged to any candidate. However, all of Alaska's superdelegates endorsed either Clinton or Obama.

Results

State Convention

Superdelegates

Analysis

Barack Obama scored a major victory in the Democratic Caucuses, winning by more than a three-to-one margin over Hillary Clinton.

Process

Results

State Convention

Analysis

See also

References

See also