REPUBLICANS

REPUBLICANS

Delegates and alternates are chosen by the presidential candidates.

Ohio Republicans will send 88 delegates and 85 alternate delegates to the convention.

Three delegates and three alternates are selected by each candidate from each of the state’s 18 congressional districts. The candidate who wins a congressional district gets all the delegates in that district.

There is a requirement that there be an equal number of men and women delegates and alternates. Odd-numbered congressional districts, such as the 17th, select two female delegates and one male delegate as well as two male alternates and one female alternate. The opposite is the case in even-numbered districts, such as the 6th.

There are also 34 at-large delegates and 31 at-large alternate delegates selected by the candidate who wins the state’s March 4 primary.

Though Republican delegates sign pledges of support for their chosen presidential candidate, they are not required to vote for that candidate at the national convention.

DEMOCRATS

There are 162 delegates and 24 alternates going to the Democratic National Convention from Ohio.

There are 92 delegates and 16 alternates chosen for each presidential candidate at pre-primary caucuses. The caucuses were held Thursday at a location in each of the state’s 18 congressional districts. There is a requirement that there be an equal number of men and women delegates and alternates from the congressional districts.

The number of delegates for each district is based on the vote for Democratic candidates in the 2004 presidential and the 2006 gubernatorial elections.

The 17th District, which includes portions of Mahoning and Trumbull counties, had seven delegates, three males and four females, and one male alternate. The heavily Democratic district has more delegates than all but the 11th District, which includes a portion of Cuyahoga County and has eight delegates and one alternate.

The 6th District, which includes all of Columbiana and a portion of Mahoning counties, has three male and two female delegates and one female alternate.

There are also 70 other delegates, including the state’s congressional members, the governor, Ohio Democratic Party leaders and at-large delegates chosen by the state party’s executive committee, and eight other alternate delegates.

The winner of the March 4 primary in each congressional district would get most or potentially all delegates in those districts. Those who receive at least 15 percent of the vote in a district get at least one delegate from that district. A calculation is done based on the percentage of votes to determine how many delegates in each district go to each candidate.

If a presidential candidate who received at least 15 percent of the vote in a congressional district in the primary drops out of the race before the Democratic National Convention, that ex-candidate has two options. The ex-candidate can either instruct his or her delegates to vote for the party nominee or have them replaced by the nominee’s delegates. If neither is done, those delegates are obligated to vote for that former candidate during the first round of choosing the Democratic nominee at the convention.

After the primary, a district may have to hold a post-primary caucus on April 17 if the winner doesn’t have enough delegates. This happened in 2004. U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, did so poorly in the pre-primary caucus that 17 of the state’s 18 congressional districts had to hold post-primary meetings to select the rest of his convention delegates.

The Democratic candidates have the authority to reject anyone elected to be their delegate.

Sources: Ohio Secretary of State,
Ohio Democratic Party,
Ohio Republican Party, Vindicator files