Virginia Republicans will pick 16 delegates this weekend to send to the national convention, delegates that could help decide the Republican presidential nominee if there’s contested convention.
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Mr. Trump proclaimed himself the “presumptive nominee” on Tuesday night, and analysts and activists said he’s probably justified after notching the kinds of margins a clear front-runner should be tallying at this point in the race. If Trump does not capture a majority of all delegates seated at the convention (1,237) on the first ballot, all SC delegates would be released to vote for their candidate of choice in what would then be a “contested” convention.
Jim Worthington, a Trump supporter and newly-elected delegate from Pennsylvania’s 8th congressional district, said he spent more than $30,000 of his own money on his delegate campaign.
All of South Carolina’s 50 delegates are honor-bound to vote for Donald Trump on the first ballot.
“Our ask to Google is really simple: Don’t put your brand on a Trump-led convention”, said Heidi Hess of CREDO Action, a group advocating social change.
While some RNC delegates in other states have been lobbied to switch their vote to another candidate, Davidson said that hasn’t happened in Ohio.
But the delegates are free to vote how they want if there are later rounds of voting. The other 33 delegates are elected by congressional district, with each of Virginia’s 11 districts getting three delegates.
Constantine Querard, who is running Cruz’s Arizona operations, said that’s not the way the system works. Ted Cruz, his closest competitor. Four are expected to vote for Texas Sen.
A group of GOP consultants has formed Victory California, the sole objective of which is to deny Donald Trump the 1,237 delegates that would guarantee him the nomination. “It’s not everything we demanded”, he said, “but it’s a good step forward”.
Askey hopes his name will be on Cruz’s official slate of delegate candidates that will be released Saturday. He has called on Trump supporters to show up in large numbers on Saturday and protest the state party leadership.
“With those kind of credentials, it’s kind of tough for them to turn me a way, but I’m not taking it for granted”, said Gilmore, who said he is undecided in which candidate he vote for in a contested convention.
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“If things go the way they look now, my comments about Trump I’m going to have to eat because I’m not going to support Hillary.”, Ms. Winbush said. Some will suggest that Microsoft should not allow their products to be used at the convention, but I view Microsoft’s decision not to donate any cash to the GOP convention as a victory for those who don’t want corporations funding the Republican convention.
