Brokered Convention
A national party convention where no candidate arrives with enough delegates to win on the first ballot, requiring negotiation to select a nominee.
A brokered convention - more precisely called a contested or open convention - occurs when no single presidential candidate has secured enough pledged delegates to win the nomination before the convention begins.
In this scenario, the first ballot fails to produce a winner. Depending on party rules, delegates may then become free to vote for any candidate on subsequent ballots, and party leaders, state delegations, and candidates negotiate to build a majority coalition.
Brokered conventions were common in American political history before the modern primary system developed in the 1970s. No major party has had a genuinely contested convention in the modern era.
The prospect of a brokered convention typically arises when a large field of candidates splits the delegate count without any single contender dominating.
Keep learning
A national party convention that requires multiple ballots to nominate a presidential candidate because no one clinched the needed delegates beforehand.
The national gathering of a political party's delegates that formally nominates the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
A party representative selected during primaries or caucuses who votes for a presidential nominee at the national convention.
A Democratic Party automatic delegate - typically an elected official or party leader - who is not bound by primary results on the first ballot.