How state Dems, GOP choose delegates: Lights! Camera! Yawn.
On March 15, the Democratic county conventions will be held in most instances at the county courthouses. In that meeting, voters will elect county executive committees and delegates to the congressional district conventions and state party convention.
In April and May, congressional district conventions will be held in which Democrats will election a state party executive committee and delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
On June 7, delegates will meet at the state Democratic convention in Jackson to hold the election of the remaining members to the state party executive committee, an 80-member body with 20 members from each congressional district. The executive committee is the governing body of the Mississippi Democratic Party.
The state convention will also mark the election of at-large delegates who will attend the Democratic National Convention.
Mississippi Republicans will hold precinct and county caucuses statewide on April 26. The Mississippi Republican State Convention will be held in Jackson on May 9-10.
The Republican National Convention will be held in Minneapolis-Saint Paul from Sept. 1-4.
“It’s our desire that all Mississippians who share the conservative philosophy of the Republican Party become active participants in our convention process,” said state Republican Party executive director Brad White. “Beginning with every precinct in the state and moving all the way to the national level, this is the year our party will reorganize itself from the ground up and we encourage all likeminded voters to join us.”
“I firmly believe the best vehicle through which a positive impact on our government can come is the Republican Party. Therefore, it’s essential that we have a full team when it comes time to play ball,” White said.
Any registered state voter who considers himself or herself a Republican is eligible to seek election as a Republican National Convention delegate. Interested candidates must file a “statement of candidacy” with the state Republican Party by May 1.
State Republicans will choose their delegates to their county conventions on April 26 and then hold the conventions that afternoon, White said.
County delegates then choose a county GOP executive committee and county delegates to the state convention. The process is completed at the state GOP’s district caucus and state convention to be held in Jackson on May 10.
Mississippi GOP delegates are all required to support the presidential candidate who wins the March 11 Republican primary – commonly called “winner-take-all” delegates. Republicans have no “super” or independent delegates and the delegation votes as a bloc at the national convention.
Of the GOP’s 39 convention delegates, 24 are chosen at-large.
Clarion Ledger
3/2/8
Magnolia Tribune
