I'm a Delegate

Black text on a white background

"I'm a Delegate" is one in a series of humorous campaign buttons appearing in 1964. Others in this series include, "Vote for Stengel," "Nobody for President," and "Dizzy Gillespie for Pres." All used the same white background and black font.

Delegates are sent by the states to the national party convention, either Democrat or Republican, to choose the party’s Presidential nominee, essentially serving as proxies for voters back home. During the primary elections, each party is voting to choose the nominee to represent their party in the November election. Depending on the way state’s conduct their primary elections, they either send delegates proportionate to the amount of votes each candidate got, or if they are a “winner-take-all” state, all the delegate’s sent will be supporting the candidate who got the most votes. The candidate who receives the majority of pledged delegate votes at the convention becomes the nominee for the party, who then goes on to face the nominee from the other party in the Presidential election.