Last updated on Monday, April 14, 2008
(UNDATED) - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are pouring time and money into Indiana’s May 6 primary. But the net gain for the winner is likely to be four delegates, at most.
72 delegates are at stake in Indiana. 25 of them will be awarded based on the statewide results; the rest are based on returns in the nine congressional districts.
But all Democratic primaries require a proportional share of delegates for the losers. And eight of the nine districts have an even number of delegates.
It'll take a landslide to avoid splitting them 50-50. The lone exception is the sixth district in eastern Indiana. Republican Mike Pence represents the district in Congress, but the enough Democrats there voted for John Kerry in 2004 to give it five delegates, instead of four or six. That means somebody will win three of them.
The statewide winner will gain at least 13 delegates, and could push that number as high as 15 by rolling up a 58% margin. That's considered unlikely.
Indiana has 13 superdelegates, whose selection is unrelated to the election results. Five have endorsed Clinton and two have endorsed Obama. Indiana's five Democratic U.S. House members are all uncommitted.
State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker will appoint the 13th superdelegate at the party's state convention in June. Parker has already endorsed Clinton, so the New York senator can count on another Indiana vote once that delegate is named.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.