SPRINGFIELD - In a complicated campaign for president, longtime Du Quoin Mayor John Rednour appears to be part of a case of mistaken identity.

Rednour is a so-called "superdelegate," one of hundreds of party faithful including elected officials and national committee members who get to vote for a Democratic nominee at the party's convention.

With the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama so close, many have tried keeping track of the commitments of those superdelegates because their decisions could help decide the primary election.

Rednour is often listed as a Clinton backer.

But Rednour said Tuesday that he supports Obama. And last March, he gave Obama's campaign $1,000, according to records.

"Where all this has come from, I don't know," Rednour said.

One theory: His son.

John Rednour Jr. serves on Clinton's Illinois steering committee and supports the New York senator.

Rednour Jr. also lives in Du Quoin and is involved in local Democratic politics. But the younger Rednour doesn't have a superdelegate vote.

"It has been a little confusing," Rednour Jr. said, adding the names get mixed up over "dang near everything."

Any confusion over their names is possibly compounded by this year's complicated campaign. Democratic Party heavyweights don't often play a big role in choosing a presidential nominee.

They vote at every convention, but typically, the results of the state-by-state primary elections choose a candidate, making the superdelegate less important, said Mark Wrighton, chairman of the political science department at Millikin University in Decatur.

"They've always been part of the process," Wrighton said. "But never like this year."

For the Rednours, both say their conflicting candidate choices don't cause any major family rifts.

"Our family's free to do whatever they want to," said Rednour Sr.

"We all kind of go our own way," his son said.

mike.riopell@lee.net

(217) 789-0865