SPRINGFIELD – In presidential primary elections, it’s all about the delegates. Delegates are the chosen representatives that attend each party’s nominating convention and give their support to a specified candidate. A Democratic candidate this year will need 1,990 of 3,979 pledged delegates at the party’s national convention to receive the nomination on the first ballot, while any subsequent ballots will require 2,376 of all 4,750 delegate votes. Republicans require a majority of the party’s 2,551 delegates to win the nomination. Illinois will send 184 Democratic delegates and an estimated 67 Republican delegates to the parties’ respective conventions.