Favorite Son/Favorite Daughter

A FAVORITE SON (or daughter) is a politician who is supported by his (or her) state's delegation to a national presidential nominating convention. Although they are prominent figures at local or state levels, favorite sons are rarely “serious” candidates because they lack the national prominence necessary to secure their party's nomination. Still, there have been occasions in which deadlock between two national favorites caused convention delegates to award their party's nomination to a favorite son.

There are a number of reasons why state party leaders may support a favorite son. They may nominate a local favorite for the presidency as a way of recognizing prominent figures within the state. Most often, favorite [Page 235]sons are governors or senators who benefit from the publicity generated by such candidacies.

State party leaders have also used the nomination of favorite sons to bolster their state's influence at the national convention. Because favorite sons generally withdraw their names from consideration after only a few ballots, the delegates who have committed to that candidate are open to persuasion by serious contenders for the nomination. In this sense, the favorite son acts as a placeholder. He enables his state to send a virtually uncommitted delegation to the national convention, encouraging high levels of attention from, and access to, candidates.

The practice of nominating favorite sons for the Democratic and Republican Party presidential nominations has been largely discontinued. Major declines in the use of this strategy occurred as a result of party nomination reforms. The 1968 Commission of Rules (also known as the O'Hara Commission), for example, required candidates to obtain signatures on a petition before being permitted to make a nominating speech at the Democratic Party's convention. It also required potential delegates to state their candidate preferences during the selection process. As a result, the number of favorite son candidates diminished because primary voters are often reluctant to select delegates who do not commit to any major candidate.

A final reason for the decline of favorite son candidates is the substantial increase in the competitiveness of primaries and caucuses. Candidates invest a great deal of time and resources into persuading delegates; therefore, delegates have become less likely to commit to candidates who do not have a serious chance of winning the nomination. Favorite son candidates may also be called “stalking horse,” “dummy,” or “smokescreen” candidates.