1988 Alabama Democratic presidential primary

A presidential primary was held in the U.S. state of Alabama on March 8, 1988, to elect delegates representing Alabama to the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Alabama was allocated sixty-five delegates, fifty-six of which were pledged. Thirty-seven delegates were elected from the seven congressional districts and the remaining nineteen were chosen by the State Democratic Executive Committee to reflect candidates' statewide vote totals. Nine delegates were unpledged delegates, or "superdelegates," made up of five party officers and four congressmen.^[1]

Jesse Jackson of South Carolina won more statewide votes than Al Gore of Tennessee, but both took the same number of delegates, twenty-eight, to the Convention, due to Gore's strength in the state's congressional districts.^[2] Later in the campaign, Gore withdrew his bid for the nomination and released his delegates while urging them to support Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. Dukakis won the support of every superdelegate and Gore delegate, and at the Convention, Alabama cast thirty-seven votes for Dukakis to Jackson's twenty-eight.^[3]