The Hunt Commission or Commission on Presidential Nominations was a commission set up in 1981 by the Democratic Party in the United States in order to change the way that the party selected its presidential candidate. The commission was chaired by then-North Carolina Governor

James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt (29 August 1947 – 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Shunt", Hunt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with McLaren, and wo ...

Background

The

1980 Democratic National Convention The 1980 Democratic National Convention nominated President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale for reelection. The convention was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City from August 11 to August 14, 1980. The 1980 convention ...

saw a bitter fight over rules and platform issues. In response to this, the Hunt Commission was convened in 1981.

Effects

The most prominent result of the commission was the creation of

superdelegates In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically. In Democratic National Conventions, superdelegates—described in formal party rules as the party leaders and electe ...

. Additionally, it lowered the percentage of delegates needed to gain representation at the convention, to 25% for primary states, and 20% for those holding caucuses. It also recommended that states make efforts to include low- and moderate-income individuals in their convention delegate pools. The commission recognized that states which organized

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

or caucuses earlier in the year received greater media attention, and so, in response, allowed states to hold nominating events over the course of three months, but allowed

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

to hold its primary no more than one week before other states, and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

to hold its caucuses no more than 15 days before the rest of the states.

References

Democratic Party (United States) United States federal boards, commissions, and committees United States presidential nominating process 1981 in the United States {{US-poli-stub

Background

Effects

See also

References