Meet the Superdelegates: Democratic Governors Evenly Endorsing Obama and Clinton

Although a small portion of overall superdelegates, governors are making waves with their endorsements

Posted February 14, 2008

When Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley jumped on board Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign last May, he gave the former first lady a ringing endorsement.

"At a critical time in our history, Hillary Clinton is the kind of experienced leader this country needs," O'Malley said then. "No one is better equipped to repair America's alliances abroad and address the urgent needs of our communities at home."

However, Maryland voters felt that someone was better equipped—voting 60 percent for Barack Obama in Tuesday's Potomac primary compared with the 36 percent who went for Clinton.

So much for listening to the governor.

Nevertheless, O'Malley's allegiance to Clinton still counts for something. O'Malley, along with all of the Democratic governors, the leaders of territories, and the mayor of the District of Columbia, will get to vote at the Democratic National Convention this August as a superdelegate. These delegates, who do not have to base their convention vote on their state's primary or caucus results, are a group of keyed-in Democratic politicians and party activists. And governors are a small but highly visible portion of Democratic superdelegates, making up about 4 percent of the 795 superdelegates (as of February 14) overall. So far, the group of Democratic "governors," 32 in all, which also includes the leaders of American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the mayor of Washington, D.C., has split its endorsements fairly evenly between the two Democratic front-runners.

Overall, 11 governors are behind Clinton, but only 10 are able to vote for her at this time. While Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm endorsed Clinton, Granholm currently doesn't get a vote at the national convention because the DNC stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates when the two states disobeyed party rules and scheduled early primaries.

Obama has the support of 10 governors, picking up Washington State's Gov. Chris Gregoire before the state's caucuses last weekend and receiving an endorsement from Puerto Rican Gov. Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá on Wednesday. He is also backed by Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty, who, according to Democratic Party rules, is considered a "governor" for all practical purposes. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who boasts that he was the first official outside of Illinois to endorse Obama, is also a supporter.

Ten others have chosen not to bet on a horse just yet, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who at one time was seeking the nomination himself.

As the close primary season continues and Clinton, after a series of losses, presses ahead to delegate-heavy states Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania, she is already counting on the votes of two superdelegates there—Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

But not so fast. Because these politicians are superdelegates, they don't have to stay committed to a candidate, and they might not. Clinton supporter Rendell gained attention this week by telling Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporters that "some whites here are not ready to vote for an African-American candidate," referencing Pennsylvania's more conservative Democratic electorate and his own big win in 2006 against former Pittsburgh Steelers team member Lynn Swann, who is black. "What's so frustrating about this is that in this business, if you give an honest answer, you get skewered for it," Rendell told the Post-Gazette later. And his press secretary Chuck Ardo told U.S. News that if Obama won the Keystone State by a large margin, Rendell would consider switching candidates midseason.

"It depends on the margin of victory," Ardo said. If it is a very close race, Rendell would not feel obligated to change his vote. "But if Senator Obama won by a wide margin, he would have to think about doing that," he said.

While these gubernatorial endorsements may account for a convention vote here and a convention vote there, they most likely won't have an impact on the overall race. Some fear the superdelegates might vote opposite the popular vote at the convention, but others are more skeptical.

"It's not going to happen," says American University history professor Allan Lichtman. "The superdelegates, I know these people, they care about one thing—winning. They don't care about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The overwhelming majority are going to go for a winner."