Sen. Marco Rubio almost certainly won't keep all the delegates he won before quitting his presidential campaign, but he may keep enough to realize his top goal of denying Donald Trump the GOP nomination.
A critical question is whether the Republican National Committee changes its current rules to allow Rubio's name to appear on the first ballot at the party's national convention in July.
But even if it doesn't, at least some of the 171 delegates Rubio claimed before leaving the race last month will be barred from voting for anyone else — Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich — on that first ballot. And that could be instrumental in keeping Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the nomination.
The biggest beneficiary of that strategy figures to be Trump's chief rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. There's almost no chance Cruz will get to 1,237 delegates before the convention either, but anti-Trump forces seem to slowly be coalescing behind him.
"I hope that they'll nominate a conservative." Rubio told commentator Mark Levin in an interview Wednesday. "The only (candidate) that fits that criteria is Ted Cruz."
Currently, a Republican presidential candidate must win nominating contests in at least eight states to appear on the convention's first ballot. Rubio won only one state (Minnesota), along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
If the RNC doesn't change that rule, Rubio won't appear on the ballot.
It's not completely clear what would happen with his delegates under either scenario.
If Rubio's name is on the first ballot, the 16 delegates he won in Virginia and the five he won in Alaska, for example, must support him on that ballot. But Republican officials in the District of Columbia are still weighing whether the 10 delegates he won there would have to vote for him on that ballot. Four of the five delegates Rubio claimed in Louisiana already have declared themselves free agents under state party rules, according to news reports.
Rubio ended his 11-month presidential bid on March 15, after Trump trounced him in Rubio's home state of Florida.
One of Rubio's first actions after that was to write to each state and territory where he had won delegates, asserting his right to keep those delegates going into the convention. His argument was that he hadn't ended his candidacy but merely suspended it.
Oklahoma GOP Chairwoman Pam Pollard said the state must honor Rubio’s delegate request — if he’s on the first ballot.
“According to our state law, (delegates) are bound on each ballot,” Pollard said. “If their candidate is not on the ballot, they’re free to vote for whomever they choose.”
It’s one reason the Cruz campaign has aggressively courted delegates who could be free to choose a candidate on the first or subsequent ballots.
A Washington Post survey of delegates found Cruz could pick up an additional 130-170 delegates on a second ballot if Trump doesn’t have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot. As of Friday, Trump had 743 delegates compared to 545 for Cruz.
Cruz acknowledged to Tonight show host Jimmy Fallon that Trump will do well in Tuesday's primary in his home state of New York — and might even take "north of 50%" — but he said Trump will not have 1,237 delegates when the convention begins July 18 in Cleveland.
"I think Donald's highest total will be on the first ballot," Cruz said.
Cruz’s scavenger hunt for delegates — he claimed all 34 Colorado delegates at the state’s GOP convention last weekend — has drawn howls of protest from Trump. who told Fox News the process is “rigged” against him.
Even if he doesn’t reach 1,237 delegates before the GOP convention, Trump is expected to arrive in Cleveland with more delegates than either Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich. His supporters say that alone should make him the de facto choice to win the nomination.
Source : USA Today
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