|The number of delegates a state sends to the Republican National Convention or the Democratic National Convention is determined by formulas set by the respective parties. In both cases the formulas take into account not only population (through the number of congressional districts or electoral votes) but also how well the party's past presidential nominee fared and the success of the state party in electing its members to office. In addition to the 50 states and the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands send delegations to the conventions, however their numbers are calculated differently (as is DC for the Republicans). Overall, Republican conventions have a much smaller number of delegates than do the Democrats--in 2000, the numbers are 2,065 versus 4,335.|
Each state receives a base allocation of 6 delegates. Each state receives 3 delegates for each congressional district in the state.
North Carolina has 12 congressional districts, for a base total of 42.
6 + (3 x 12) = 42
Base Total: 42
1. GOP Presidential Win
Each state in which the Dole-Kemp ticket won in 1996 receives 4.5 delegates plus 60% of its number of electoral votes.
Dole-Kemp won North Carolina, which has 14 electoral votes.
4.5 + (0.6 x 14) = 12.9 ...rounds up to 13
|2. GOP Elected
States receive 1 delegate for each Republican U.S. Senator elected in the six years prior to Jan. 1, 2000; 1 delegate if the governor is Republican; 1 delegate if at least half the state's U.S. House members are Republicans; 1 delegate if a state legislative chamber is controlled by Republicans or if the Republican membership has increased by 25%; 1 delegate if both chambers of the state legislature are controlled by Republicans.
Sen. Jesse Helms is a Republican (1).
Gov. Jim Hunt is a Democrat (0).
The U.S. House delegation is 7R, 5D (1). Although Democrats now control both the General Assembly and the Senate, Republicans did have a majority in the General Assembly through 1998 (1).
|3. Date Bonus
If the state's presidential primary, caucus or convention is between:
...March 15 and April 14, the state receives an additional 5% in its number of delegates.
...between April 15 and May 14, the state receives an additional 7.5% in its number of delegates.
...between May 15 and third Tuesday of June, the state receives an additional 10% in its number of delegates.
North Carolina's primary is on May 2, 2000.
0.075 x 58 = 4.35 ...rounds down to 4
Total North Carolina Delegates: 62
out of 2,066 or 3.0%
The Republican formula gives each state a base number of delegates determined by the number of congressional districts and then adds bonus delegates based on three factors: whether the Republican presidential ticket carried the state in the last election, numbers of GOP elected officials, and the date of the state's presidential primary or caucus. (The RNC added the date bonus in 1996 as an incentive to discourage frontloading). Bonus delegates can make quite a difference in delegation size. For example, North Carolina, through the addition of various bonus delegates, will send 62 delegates to the 2000 convention, 47% more than the 42 it would have had without any bonus delegates. Other states have gained less; California does not receive a single bonus delegate under the rules.
3,000 delegate votes distributed among the 50 states and DC according to a formula that gives equal weight to:
(a) sum of the vote for the Democratic presidential ticket in the state in the three most recent presidential elections relative to the national Democratic vote in the three most recent elections and;
(b) state electoral
vote relative to national electoral vote.
a. In 1988 Dukakis-Bentsen received 890,167 votes in North Carolina. In 1992 Clinton-Gore received 1,114,042 votes in North Carolina. In 1996 Clinton-Gore received 1,107,849 votes in North Carolina. Nationwide, in these three elections, the Democratic tickets received 134,120,757 total votes. Hence:
(890,167+1,114,042+1,107,849)/(134,120,757) = 0.023204
b. North Carolina
has 14 electoral votes
3,000 by this allocation factor to calculate total base delegates.
(75% are district level and
25% are at-large).
0.024613 x 3,000 x .75 = 56 district level
0.024613 x 3,000 x .25 = 19 at-large
15% add-on for party leaders and elected officials
0.15 x 75 = 11.25 ... round down to 11
Total Pledged Delegates: 86
out of 3,537 or 2.4%
Members of the Democratic National Committee. Distinguished party leaders (former Democratic Presidents and Vice Presidents, former chairs of the DNC, etc.).
Democratic members of the U.S. House and Senate.
8 members of the DNC
0 distinguished party leaders
1 Democratic governor
6 Democratic members of Congress
2 Add-on Unpledged
Total Unpledged Delegates: 17
out of 798 or 2.1%
Total North Carolina Delegates: 103
out of 4,335 or 2.4%
The Democratic formula is rather more complex. First, a base of 3,000 votes is distributed among the states according to Democratic vote in the past three elections and population by electoral vote; these delegates are pledged according to the outcomes of state primaries and caucuses. In addition to these pledged delegates, there are hundreds of unpledged delegates comprising members of the Democratic National Committee, distinguished party leaders, governors, and members of Congress. At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, unpledged delegates total 798 of the 4,335 delegates or 18.4%.
Copyright 1999, 2000 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.