On March 4, in addition to a primary, Texas Democrats held a caucus. A grand total of 228 delegates will vote from Texas at the 2008 Democratic Convention. 67 of these delegates were decided at the Caucus, which was held across the state after the primary polls closed, at around 7:15 CST. Anyone who voted in the primary was eligible to vote in the caucus, and while turnout is historically weak, the numbers of caucus voters were reportedly very high. There was talk of confusion and inefficiency at many caucus locations, with some of these typically half-hour events taking over four hours. Due to the overwhelming number of voters, there will be no official winner, with the 67 delegates to be allocated at the June Texas Democratic Convention.
Texas Delegates
- Primary Delegates: 126
- Caucus Delegates: 67
- Total Pledged Delegates: 193
- Total Unpledged Superdelegates: 35
- State Total: 228
Additional Information:
- Texas Democratic Party Hotline: 1-800-336-3254
- Clinton Campaign: 214-826-2008
- Obama Campaign: 877-48-OBAMA
2008 Texas Caucus Background
Official Site: Texas Secretary of State
The New Republic: The Lone Star Primer
The Texas Observer: How the Texas Caucus Works (February 22, 2008)
Wikipedia: Texas Democratic Primary 2008
2008 Texas Caucus News and Blogs
- Topix.net: 2008 Texas Caucus
- Google News: 2008 Texas Caucus
- WashingtonPost.com: Clinton, Obama Push For Last Tex. Delegates (March 30, 2008)
- Associated Press: Texas Dems Deny Clinton Request (March 17, 2008)
- CNN: Obama wins Mississippi primary; Texas caucus win estimated (March 12, 2008)
- CNN Political Ticker: Caucus win gives Obama more Texas delegates than Clinton (March 11, 2008)
- FoxNews.com: Texas Democrats Abandons Tally of Caucuses Results (March 11, 2008)
- Texas Democrats have given up on determining a Caucus winner or tabulating complete results after individual caucus sites became overwhelmed and many failed to report their tallies to the State Party. Instead, the delegate allocation will be decided at the State Democratic Convention in June.
- DallasNews.com: Some caucuses turn chaotic, and Clinton mulls legal action (March 5, 2008)
- Clinton campaign lawyer Lyn Utrecht: "There are a number of legal options but it's too early to say what we will pursue." They are claiming Obama supporters were preventing Clinton supporters from voting and illegitimately taking control of the caucuses.
- WSJ.com: Voters Overwhelm Texas Caucus (March 5, 2008)
- Eddie Johnson of Dallas, TX: "If I had to wait here until one o'clock in the morning I would. This is too important to miss."
- WashingtonPost.com: The Trail: Chaos Rules at Laredo Caucus (March 4, 2008)
- There were many reports of chaotic, poorly-organized caucus locations. This account of a caucus in Laredo includes stories of long lines and frustrated locals leaving without voting.
- DailyKos: Texas Caucus-- First Hand Account (March 4, 2008)
- Statesman.com: Coin toss wins a caucus (March 4, 2008)
- DallasNews.com: Trail Blazers Blog: Raucous Caucus? (March 3, 2008)
- CNN Political Ticker: Clinton supporter rips Texas caucus system (March 1, 2008)
- Clinton supporter Henry Cisneros: "Ideally, it would just be a straight out vote, and that would determine who gets the delegates, but they created this intricate system in Texas, which frankly is a great burden on voters."
- ABC News: Bill Clinton: Willing to Shake Every Hand in Texas (February 23, 2008)
- Bill Clinton on the Texas primary/caucus system: "The doors open at 7 and they close at 7:15. It would be tragic if Hillary were to win this election in the daytime and somebody were to come in at night and take it away."
- McClatchy Washington Bureau: Clinton aides threatened lawsuit over Texas caucuses... (February 28, 2008)
- TheAtlantic.com: Marc Ambinder: Texas's Unique Primaucus (February 11, 2008)
- Google Blog Search: 2008 Texas Caucus
