California holds key to convention chaos

When California decided to move up its primary to Super Tuesday, it did so with the hope that it would play a bigger role in the Democratic nomination process. Now, the prospect of a chaotic contested convention this July could hinge on that decision.

As both the most populous state and one of the deepest blue ones, California has by far the largest number of delegates to send to the national convention in Milwaukee. Of its 494 total delegates, 415 are up for grabs based on results on Tuesday — that’s more than one-fifth of the 1,991 delegates needed for a candidate to win the nomination. To put it another way, the California primary will award more than 17 times the number of delegates than New Hampshire did.