ABOUT THE DELEGATES Facts about the delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The Associated Press questionnaire was based on interviews with 3,711 out of 4,338 Democratic National Convention delegates. RACE White: 67.9 percent Black: 18.1 percent Asian/Pacific Islander: 2.5 percent Mixed race: 1.4 percent American Indian/Eskimo/Aleut: 1.2 percent Other: 2.3 percent No response: 6.6 percent Hispanic, included in other races: 8.3 percent GENDER Male: 48.2 percent Female: 47.9 percent HIGHEST EDUCATION COMPLETED Postgraduate study: 45.2 percent College graduate: 26.1 percent Some college, but no degree: 15.8 percent High school graduate: 5.8 percent Did not complete high school: 0.5 percent OCCUPATION Politician: 12.7 percent Attorney: 11.2 percent Educator: 8.9 percent Retired: 8.7 percent Consultant: 4.2 percent Union official: 3.0 percent Business person: 2.2 percent Student: 1.8 percent Entrepreneur: 1.6 percent Homemaker: 1.3 percent Real estate: 1.0 percent Other: 37.2 percent No response: 6.2 percent AVERAGE AGE: 50.8 ATTENDING FIRST CONVENTION: 52.1 percent

LOS ANGELES -- Some never went to college and minorities will be better represented than in the rest of the country, but the delegates heading to the Democratic National Convention are mostly white and better educated than the rest of the country.

They include teachers and union officials, talk-show hosts and actors. There are homemakers, business owners, a 911 dispatcher and a supermodel -- Christie Brinkley. More than 400 are lawyers, and they will be outnumbered by the politicians. All will gather Monday to award the Democratic presidential nomination to Vice President Al Gore.

Delegates range in age from 17 to 88, with the average around 51, according to Associated Press interviews. Women make up about half the delegation, according to Democratic rules that require each state delegation to be split evenly between the sexes.

The party also sets goals for filling a share of the delegate slots with minorities, a priority reflected in the ethnic makeup of the delegation: About 68 percent are white, 18 percent black and 2.5 percent Asian or Pacific Islander. About 1.2 percent are Native American, and 3.8 percent said they were of mixed or other backgrounds.

The remaining 6.6 percent did not respond to the question. About 8.3 percent of the delegates said they were Hispanic, a category included in other racial classifications.

The Census Bureau says 82 percent of the population is white, 13 percent black, 4 percent Asian and 0.9 percent Native American. Males and females are roughly equal in number.

The convention delegation is book-smart: 71 percent are college graduates and 45 percent have done postgraduate work.

Democratic delegates mirror their Republican counterparts in that "they are wealthy and very well educated on the whole," said Larry Sabato, a government professor at the University of Virginia. "There are exceptions, but overwhelmingly these are rich individuals. The difference comes in the gender and racial breakdowns."

The ethnic diversity among the Democratic delegation presents a striking contrast to the middle-aged, overwhelmingly white (88 percent) and mostly male (61 percent) group of delegates to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia earlier this month.

And the delegates know it.

"We have young people, people from every ethnic group and gays and lesbians," boasted third-time delegate Jackie Stevenson of Minnetonka, Minn. "White males, laborers, farmers -- we run the gamut."

Among other details the AP learned about the Democratic delegates:

• More than half the group will be attending a national convention for the first time, including Joseph Bailey III, an 18-year-old from Halifax, Va. In comparison, Rosalind Wyman of Los Angeles is a seasoned veteran, having attended every convention but one since 1952.
• A majority, 52 percent, said they support civil unions and benefits for gay couples. About 17 percent oppose them and 16 percent said they were unsure.
• Twenty-eight percent are union members.
• About 30 percent hold some type of elective office, ranging from local school board to president of the United States: Bill Clinton is an unpledged "superdelegate" from Arkansas.
• About 60 percent are married; the average number of children is 1.8.

Convention delegates, whether they are Democrat or Republican, tend to be more ideological than their parties and the nation, said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

"They're not your average folks for one humungous reason -- they're very, very into politics," he said. "That separates them from most Americans, for whom politics is a passing interest. It's usually of no interest except during some crisis, and only a passing interest in an election year."