Buttigieg, Bloomberg and now Warren are out. What happens to their delegates?
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts ended her presidential campaign on Thursday following a “disappointing” Super Tuesday for both her and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, CNBC reported.
She’s the fourth candidate this week to end their bid for the Democratic presidential nomination — right behind Bloomberg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
How many former candidates’ delegates are up for grabs after Super Tuesday?
Bloomberg picked up 46 delegates on Super Tuesday, Vox reported, bringing him to a total of 59 as of Thursday morning, according to the Associated Press.
Warren came up behind with 26 delegates on Super Tuesday for a grand total of 65, the AP reported.
Before suspending their bids and also endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden, Buttigieg pulled in 26 and Klobuchar 7, according to Vox.
Where do their delegates go?
The delegate rules get complicated very fast.
“The magic number” is 1,991, according to CNN. Whoever reaches that majority threshold gets the Democratic nomination.
Biden has 595 delegates overall, according to the AP, while Sen. Bernie Sanders has 528. If neither reach that majority number, then the Democrats will face a contested convention.
Buttigieg and Klobuchar’s delegates aren’t required by law to vote for “anyone in particular” but they are subject to certain state party rules, CNN reported.
“The national party says they should follow their conscience,” according the media outlet.
It gets trickier when you delve into pledged and unpledged delegates and suspended presidential campaigns versus formal withdrawals, New York Magazine reported.
But at the end of the day, there’s no way to force a pledged delegate into staying committed when it comes time for the convention.
“Delegates pledged to candidates who have quit the race really are free agents, since the only real compulsion governing them is a ‘pledge’ required by the national party to do their best to represent the jurisdictions that elected them,” according to the magazine.
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Buttigieg, Bloomberg and now Warren are out. What happens to their delegates?."
