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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 The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...
. 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 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 nominatin ...
, 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 Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
campaigns. Of 12,752,417 registered voters, 22.49% turned out. The contest between the two candidates was very close: Senator
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
won the primary, while her opponent, Senator
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, received more support in the caucuses. In the end, Obama secured 99 pledged delegates to Clinton's 94.


Delegate breakdown

The Texas Democratic Party sent a total of 228 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 193 were pledged and 35 were unpledged. Most of the 193 pledged delegates were allocated at the National Convention according to the results of the Texas Presidential Primary on March 4. The 35 unpledged delegates were popularly called "
superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically. In Democratic National Conventions, superdelegates—described in formal party rules as the party leaders and electe ...
s" because their votes represented their personal decisions, whereas the regular delegates' votes represented the collective decision of many voters. Superdelegates were free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and were selected by the Texas Democratic Party's officials. The 193 pledged delegates were further divided into 126 district delegates and 67 statewide delegates. The 126 district delegates were divided among Texas's 31 Senatorial Districts and were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the primary results in each District. The 67 statewide delegates were divided into 42 at-large delegates and 25 Party Leaders and Elected Officials (abbreviated PLEOs). They were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the preference of the delegates at the State Convention on June 6–7. Of the 35 unpledged delegates, 32 were selected in advance and 3 were selected at the State Convention. The delegates selected in advance were 17 Democratic National Committee members, the 13 Democratic U.S. Representatives from Texas, and 2 Distinguished Party Leaders: former U.S. House Speaker
Jim Wright James Claude Wright Jr. (December 22, 1922 – May 6, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas' 12th congressional district as a ...
and former DNC chairman Robert Schwarz Strauss.


Delegate selection process

The Texas Democratic Party used a combination of two processes to select delegates and determine how they would be allocated to each presidential candidate. First, the Party used the results of the primary process to determine how 126 of its 193 pledged delegates would be allocated to each candidate. Second, the Party used the caucus process to select its precinct, county, state, and national delegates, and also to determine how many of the remaining 67 pledged delegates would be allocated to each candidate. Many states require that candidates receive at least 15% of the total votes to receive delegates. The Texas Democratic Party only applies this requirement to the primary process and the final step of the caucus process, since those are the only two occasions in which the Party allocates delegates to candidates.


Primary

The Texas Presidential Primary was held on March 4. It was an
open primary Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
, permitting participants to vote for candidates in any one party, regardless of voters' party affiliations. Participants were then considered as restricted to that party for the purpose of calculations regarding primaries and runoff elections for the next two years. The Primary itself was funded by the Texas State Government and administered by the Secretary of the State of Texas's office. The Texas Democratic Party used the results of the Primary to determine how its 126 district delegates would be apportioned to each presidential candidate. Unlike other states, and even the
Republican Party of Texas The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the Texas affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in the United States. It is currently chaired by Abraham George (politician), Abraham George, who succeeded Matt Rinaldi in 2024 ...
, the Texas Democratic Party does not allocate its delegates to Congressional Districts. Instead, it allocates its delegates to the state's 31 Senatorial Districts. The number of delegates that the Party allocates to each District depends on the votes cast in each district for the Democratic candidates during two previous ''general'' elections: Chris Bell in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election and
John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...
in the
2004 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney, were re-elected to a second term. They narrowly defeated ...
. One effect of this allocation scheme is that districts with a high population of African-American residents are awarded a higher number of delegates, while districts with a high population of Hispanic residents are awarded a lower number. Primary polling places were open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. In accordance with the law, any voter in line by 7:00 p.m. was permitted to vote. The Texas Secretary of State had a web site that provides the location of polling places. The site also offered a list of contact numbers for local county clerks and elections administrators where voters may obtain polling place location information. The Texas Democratic Party's official web site also included information about the locations of polling places.


Caucuses

The Texas Democratic Party holds three tiers of caucus events to select its delegates: precinct conventions, County and Senatorial District conventions, and a State Convention. The precinct conventions immediately followed the primary, a process in 2008 that was advertised as the "Texas Two-Step". Senator Royce West is chair of the Advisory Committee on the Texas Democratic Party Convention/Caucus System, which is charged with investigating the caucus system, including whether to retain the Texas Two Step. Former Texas Attorney general
Jim Mattox James Albon Mattox (August 29, 1943 – November 20, 2008) was an American lawyer and politician from Texas who served three terms in the United States House of Representatives and two four-year terms as Texas Attorney General, but lost high-pr ...
testified against the Texas Two-Step at a hearing of Senator West's committee held in Austin.


Precinct conventions

The precinct conventions were held beginning March 4 at 7:15 p.m. (15 minutes after the Primary polls close) or after the last person in line at 7:00 p.m. had voted. At each precinct convention, participants chose Precinct Delegates to go to the County or Senate District conventions. The Texas Democratic Party allocated one Precinct Delegate to each precinct for every 15 votes cast for Chris Bell (the party's gubernatorial candidate) in the 2006 Texas general election. Participation was open to anyone who voted in the Primary, whether they voted early, as an absentee, or on the day of the Primary. Participants had to sign in and provide proof that they voted in the Primary. Such proof could be provided in one of several ways: showing a registration card that was stamped at the Primary, producing an early voting receipt, providing an official photo identification that can be checked against a roll of early voters, or signing an
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...
(oath). Texas Democratic precinct conventions are governed by
Robert's Rules of Order ''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923). "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the ...
and Texas Democratic Party Rules. Participants arriving late to the convention could still participate but could not affect any voting that had already taken place. When the time came to select the Precinct Delegates, participants declared their candidate preference, or that they were uncommitted, which is an option not available on the primary ballot. The participants in each presidential candidate preference group then chose the delegates to represent them at the County and Senate District conventions. A total of 8,247 precinct conventions were held throughout the 254 counties in Texas, most of which were held at each precinct's Primary polling place. Concerns had been raised in the media about the logistics in place for the precinct conventions in light of the unprecedented massive participation. For example, in Harris County —of which
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
is the seat, and in which 874 conventions are scheduled— the highest primary turn-out in the past two decades was 78,000 in 2004, whereas 170,032 have already voted early in this year's Primary. Typically about 5,000 people attend the precinct conventions held throughout Harris County; up to 100,000 were expected to participate this year. In the event, there was an estimated turnout of one million throughout the state, and as of March 11 the final result of the caucuses in Harris County was unknown., as party volunteers were still collecting packets from that county's 874 precincts. The ''Dallas Morning News'' reported a projected turnout of 1.1 million. Overall, less than half of the precincts statewide had reported to the state Democratic party by mid-March.


County and Senatorial District conventions

County and Senatorial District Conventions were held on March 29. At each convention, Precinct Delegates chose the County Delegates (7,315 in total among all the conventions) to go to the State Convention. The Texas Democratic Party allocated one County Delegate to each convention for every 180 votes cast for Chris Bell in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election.


State Convention

The State Convention was held on June 6–7. At the Convention, the 7,315 County Delegates plus 351 state superdelegates chose 67 delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention: 42 At-large Delegates and 25 Pledged Party Leader and Elected Official (PLEO) delegates. These 67 delegates, along with the 126 district delegates, brought the total for pledged delegates to 193. The delegates at the State Convention also chose 3 "add-on" unpledged delegates to attend the Democratic National Convention.


Polls

A poll of likely Democratic primary voters on March 2 showed Sen. Hillary Clinton with a statistically insignificant 50% to 49% lead, with 1% Not Sure.


Results


Primary results

Primary date: March 4, 2008 National pledged delegates determined: 126 (of 193)


Precinct convention results

Convention date: March 4, 2008 National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 193)


Challenged results

On March 14, the Clinton campaign issued a letter to the Texas Democratic Party challenging the results of its precinct conventions. The letter proposed that the Party delay the County and Senatorial District conventions until it could provide the campaign with "presidential preference counts
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
can be made based on a review of each and every sign in sheet to determine eligibility of participants and delegates". Texas Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie issued a statement on March 17 rejecting the proposal, stating that the Texas Democratic Party "will not set up an unnecessary, ad hoc 'verification' process that could effectively disqualify delegates selected at their precinct conventions after the fact."


County and Senatorial District convention results

Convention date: March 29, 2008 National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 193)


State Convention results

Convention date: June 6–7, 2008 National pledged delegates determined: 67 (of 193)


See also

*
2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party chose their nominee for President of the United States, president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illi ...
*
2008 Texas Republican presidential primary The 2008 Texas Republican presidential primary took place on March 4, 2008. John McCain won the primary election, giving him enough delegate votes to guarantee his nomination at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Process The Texas Republ ...


References


External links


Texas Secretary of State
information about the Texas Presidential Primary
Texas Democratic Party
information about Texas Democratic caucus events

List of National Delegates, Alternates and Standing Committee members elected 6/7/08 at Texas State Dem. Convention
Group of Texas Democrats Seeking to End the Texas Two Step
{{Texas Democratic Party 2008 United States Democratic presidential primaries by state, Texas Democratic presidential primary and caucuses
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
Texas caucuses