# If Edwards drops out of the race what happens to his delegates?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 30, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583 "2008-01-30T14:39:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583/1 "2008-01-30T14:39:59Z")

</div>

Title kind of says it all.

John Edwards seems to have 26 delegates from participating in primaries/caucuses up till now. If he drops out, as he seems to be indicating, what happens to those delegates? Can he give them to another candidate? Are they free to do what they want at the convention? Do they get divvied up evenly? Something else?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583/2 "2008-01-30T14:49:36Z")

</div>

They are free to do whatever they want, but he will tell them to vote for whoever he endorses, or the frontrunner if there is a clear one by the end of the primaries.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583/3 "2008-01-30T14:50:33Z")

</div>

There is a GD thread on this that explains…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583/4 "2008-01-30T14:57:24Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Phlosphr]  
There is a GD thread on this that explains…  
[/QUOTE]

Sorry. Didn’t check. Assumed this was a straightforward question and not open to debate hence a GQ question (what ought to be done with them might be a debate).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-edwards-drops-out-of-the-race-what-happens-to-his-delegates/435583/5 "2008-01-30T14:58:34Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Whack-a-Mole]  
Sorry. Didn’t check. Assumed this was a straightforward question and not open to debate hence a GQ question (what ought to be done with them might be a debate).  
[/QUOTE]

True…🙂