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Race For The Presidency
Winning the 2008 Nomination
By Rhodes Cook |
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Although Kansas has provided the nation with a number of presidential candidates in recent years, the state itself has struggled to find ways to play more than a bit part in selecting the nominees. At first, Kansas politicians wrestled with the idea of holding a pre-Super Tuesday primary in 2008. When that strategy failed, both parties adopted early caucuses. Democrats will meet according to state senate districts, while Republicans will open at least one site per congressional district.
Senator Sam Brownback had hoped to dominate the GOP caucuses in his home state. But the collapse of his presidential campaign in October, Kansas becomes a target of opportunity for his rivals. Kansas Republicans hope to make it worth their while by awarding three delegates to the highest vote-getter in each congressional district, as well as the whole bloc of 24 at-large delegates to any candidate that wins at least two of the state's four congressional districts and finishes with the most votes statewide.
Participation in the caucuses is limited to registered voters of each party. Democrats allow other voters to register for their party at the caucus; Republicans do not. As of June 2007, there were 1,647,434 registered voters in Kansas—752,597 Republicans, 437,338 Democrats, and 457,499 independent and third-party voters.
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DEMOCRATS |
REPUBLICANS |
| THE CAUCUS CALENDAR |
| Local Unit Caucuses |
Feb. 5 |
Feb. 9 |
| Congressional District Conventions or Committee Meeting |
April 12 |
by March 31 |
| State Committee |
May 17 |
May or June likely
(date to be determined) |
| Filing Deadline |
Jan. 21 |
Jan. 9 |
| Filing Procedure |
Democratic candidates must pay a $1,000 filing fee to the state party or submit petitions signed by at least 1,000 registered Democrats. Republican candidates must submit to the state party either a $5,000 filing fee or a $1,200 filing fee along with petitions signed by at least 5,000 registered Republicans, of which at least 1,000 must be from each congressional district. |
| THE DELEGATES |
| Number (% of national total) |
41 (0.9%) |
39 (1.6%) |
| Distribution: |
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By district |
21 (from 4 to 7 per district) |
12 (3 per district) |
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At-Large |
7 |
24 |
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Pledged PEOs |
4 |
— |
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RNC members |
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3 |
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Superdelegates |
9 |
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| Method of Allocation |
Proportional—15% of vote needed to win a share of statewide or district delegates. |
Winner-take-all or Proportional—winner in a district Feb. 9 takes all of that district's delegates; candidate that wins the most votes in at least two of the state's four congressional districts and receives the most votes statewide wins all the at-large delegates; otherwise, the at-large delegates are divided proportionally to reflect the statewide vote, with roughly 4% of the vote needed to qualify for a delegate. |
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