What is "superdelegate"

n. (context US politics English) A member of the Democratic political party who has been selected to attend the national convention to help select a nominee for president.

In American politics, a "superdelegate" is an unpledged delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for whom they want to vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates (who make up just under 15% of all convention delegates) include elected officials and party activists and officials. Democratic superdelegates are free to support any candidate for the presidential nomination. This contrasts with convention "pledged" delegates who are selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, in which voters choose among candidates for the party's presidential nomination. Moreover, superdelegates are permitted to participate in the primary elections as regular voters.

At least in name, superdelegates are not involved in the Republican Party nomination process. There are delegates to the Republican National Convention who are seated automatically, but they are limited to three per state, consisting of the state chairsperson and two district-level committee members. Republican Party superdelegates are obliged to vote for their state's popular vote winner under the rules of the party branch to which they belong.

Although the term superdelegate was originally coined and created to describe a type of Democratic delegate, the term has become widely used to describe these delegates in both parties, even though it is not an official term used by either party.