Those county delegates would, in turn, select the delegates who will ultimately choose the party’s nominee at its national convention in Cleveland this summer.
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It’s definitely an insider’s game, which is one reason that Trump appears to be struggling to get his supporters selected as delegates, even though he’s won the most primaries.
The Field Poll surveyed 558 likely Republican voters in English and Spanish by telephone from March 24 to April 4. “The state voted for Trump so I’d be inclined to support the state”, he said.
Republicans can’t be bullied by the threat of a revolt by Trump supporters into giving their nomination to a man so widely detested.
That means Florida, the most important swing state in the November election, also could play a key role buttressing Trump at the July convention in Cleveland if he doesn’t secure the necessary 1,237 delegates before then, which seems increasingly likely.
Trump’s candidacy has created fractures within the state’s Republican Party. None of them has publicly endorsed Trump. “Which is an indication to me that they believe that they are either in trouble in NY or they want to make certain that he wins his home state”, said MSNBC Republican Analyst, Rick Tyler.
While voters in other states registered their support for a presidential candidate, Republicans in Colorado could only vote for county-level delegates.
There will be between 150 and 200 unbound delegates at the convention.
Manafort told CNN, “I work directly for the boss”, a notable departure from the usual workflow at Trump’s 2016 operation, where most campaign staff answer to campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
In case of a contested convention, 52% Republicans say the party should award the nomination to Trump, while 48% say someone else should be nominated.
“Coloradans, naturally having that pioneer spirit, gravitate toward someone like Cruz”, said State Rep. Justin Everett, one of Cruz’s pledged delegates. More will be elected today. Another 13 delegates will be up for grabs at Saturday’s state convention, where the Texas senator is scheduled to address the crowd.
A number of delegate candidates, including some who are unaffiliated with any campaign, gave speeches promising to prevent any rule changes that might dramatically swing the race towards one candidate.
“Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet – he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump”, a spokesperson of the Trump campaign said.
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“She does have a substantial lead over Bernie Sanders, but there are a few states where numbers don’t exist”, Sanders said.
