superdelegate

or su·per-del·e·gate

[ soo-per-del-i-git, ‑-geyt ]

noun

1. a party leader or elected public official chosen as an uncommitted delegate to a national political convention.

superdelegate

/ ˈsuːpəˌdɛlɪɡɪt /

noun

1. another name for an unpledged delegate

Word History and Origins

Origin of superdelegate¹

First recorded in 1984

Example Sentences

Elaine Kamarck, a Democratic superdelegate who advised Vice President Al Gore, called him “Joe Six Pack,” and a valuable counterbalance “when you have a Black, Asian woman at the head of the ticket.”

From Los Angeles Times

Moses Mercado, the recall’s field organizer, was a superdelegate for Barack Obama who has lived in the city for 31 years.

From New York Times

For his trouble, an unnamed Democratic superdelegate, while talking to Didion, likened Jackson to a "terrorist."

From Salon

He pointed to Mr. Sanders’s 2016 delegates as essential to the party’s overhaul of its superdelegate system as an example.

From New York Times

“I keep hearing, ‘Cuomo for President,’” said Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party and a superdelegate to the national convention.

From New York Times