--- description: The race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will likely be decided by superdelegates at the convention. Here's what you need to know title: What to Know About Superdelegates in Under 90 Seconds image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f48b4e483bd1daa/698893ce0a4a2243cc9c9b6a/superdelegates.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What to Know About Superdelegates in Under 90 Seconds by [Joyce Lee](/author/joyce-lee/), [Mathew Katz](/author/mathew-katz/) and [Justin Weiss](/author/justin-weiss/) May 19, 2016 2:34 PM CUT  Justin Weiss for TIME by [Joyce Lee](/author/joyce-lee/), [Mathew Katz](/author/mathew-katz/) and [Justin Weiss](/author/justin-weiss/) May 19, 2016 2:34 PM CUT With the tense rivalry between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders [showing no sign of fading](http://time.com/4339786/why-democrats-havent-unified-yet/ "undefined"), the party’s nominee for president will likely be decided by “superdelegates” at this summer’s Democratic convention. The Democratic superdelegates are made up of party officials, governors, [senators](http://time.com/4294398/bernie-sanders-superdelegate/ "undefined"), representatives, and other senior leadership, all of whom get to cast a vote for the Democratic nominee. Some Sanders supporters, who have accused top Democratic brass of trying to steer the nominating process, have railed against the superdelegates for taking power away from the grassroots, though the Vermont senator’s campaign [has more recently begun to court them](http://time.com/4231656/bernie-sanders-super-pac-superdelegate-progressive-kick/ "undefined"). The clash between grassroots Sanders supporters and establishment party officials came to a head [over the weekend at the Nevada state convention](http://time.com/4339571/bernie-sanders-nevada-convention-chaos/ "undefined"). Watch the video above to learn everything you need to know about superdelegates. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4341060/superdelegates-democratic-convention-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4341060/superdelegates-democratic-convention-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton/"},"headline":"What to Know About Superdelegates in Under 90 Seconds","datePublished":"2016-05-19T14:34:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:07:27.665Z","description":"Meet the party insiders who will decide the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders","url":"https://time.com/4341060/superdelegates-democratic-convention-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f48b4e483bd1daa/698893ce0a4a2243cc9c9b6a/superdelegates.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joyce Lee","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Mathew Katz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mathew-katz/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Weiss","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/justin-weiss/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f48b4e483bd1daa/698893ce0a4a2243cc9c9b6a/superdelegates.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"superdelegates","caption":"","creditText":"Justin Weiss for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4341060/superdelegates-democratic-convention-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton/","name":"What to Know About Superdelegates in Under 90 Seconds"}}]}] ```