Delegate slates can offer insight into campaigns
Process often ignored but could be significant this year
Both Democratic candidates for president filed a full slate of delegates to their conventions, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drew more from the state's pool of elected officials than Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — reflecting a national narrative that she has stronger support among the party's establishment.
Maryland's process of selecting presidential delegates is arcane and widely ignored by voters. But the delegate slates filed by the presidential campaigns offer insight into a candidate's organizing prowess and whether they are playing a long game in anticipation of a protracted primary battle, or a contested convention.
And if either primary battle drags on past March, every delegate may matter.
Maryland's primary is set for April 26, late enough in the calendar that the nomination fights are usually a foregone conclusion by the time the state's polls open.
Yet the most active campaigns have been working for months to line up delegates here.
“This could be the first time in modern history that a Maryland primary could be contested, and our candidate hasn't been selected for us,” said Joe Cluster, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party. “That would put an emphasis on making sure these campaigns are organized in Maryland.”
Del. Christian J. Miele of Baltimore County and former Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman — both Republicans — have been working since last year to lock down supporters for their preferred candidate, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. That effort paid off this month when the campaign filed a full slate of delegates and alternates.
“Having a full slate shows that you have broad support throughout the state,” said Miele, who along with Neuman is also running to be a presidential delegate.
Other campaigns did not fare as well.
Trump — who finished second in the Iowa caucuses but had a wide margin of victory in Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire — fell six alternates short of a full slate. Because alternates do not vote, the outcome is likely to have little to no practical impact for his campaign.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who placed second in New Hampshire, fell short of a full slate. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz filled all his ballot positions.
Maryland will send 38 delegates — and a large number of alternates and guests — to the Republican convention in Cleveland in July. Maryland Democrats will send 118 delegates to their convention a week later in Philadelphia. Voters in both parties will choose delegates, as well as their candidates, when they head to the polls.
But the process the two parties use to apportion those delegates to the candidates is significantly different.
Democrats use a proportional system, and so will potentially allocate some number of delegates to both Sanders and Clinton — assuming they're both in the running by April. How many delegates each candidate receives will depend on the results in each of the state's eight congressional districts, as well as the statewide counts.
The party also requires a nearly equal number of male and female delegates, and it tries to balance its delegation along racial lines.
Republicans, who do not have similar demographic requirements, use a winner-take-all hybrid system in which a candidate who wins a particular congressional district earns all of that district's three delegates.
Most delegates in both parties pledge their support to a given candidate, but for Republicans the delegates who receive the most votes are the ones who head to the convention — even if they support a different candidate than the winner. In that case, a delegate must support the candidate who won in early rounds of voting at the convention.
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