Should GOP front runner Donald Trump head to the Republican nominating convention short of the required delegate threshold, scores of those functionaries currently committed to his candidacy are ready to break with him on a second ballot, Politico reports.
According to the publication, more than a hundred delegates won't support Trump if he fails to clear 1,237 votes, the number necessary to win the nomination. Politico says it spoke to "dozens of delegates, delegate candidates, operatives and party leaders."
As controversies swirl around the billionaire mogul, all eyes are on his chief challenger for the nomination, Senator Ted Cruz. The Texas Republican has been mounting a stealth campaign to recruit his own loyalists as convention delegates, Politico reported. That could mean that if there's a second ballot, many of these delegates may be free to cast their lot for another candidate.
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The arcane rules governing electing a party nominee have taken on a new level of urgency, with Trump retaining a commanding lead in delegates and grassroots support. However, large swaths of party members still refuse to back Trump, and are searching for an alternative that can unify the party in time for the general election.
"As far as the stealing of the Trump nomination, that's a big concern for everybody," Diana Orrock, the RNC committeewoman from Nevada and the only one of 112 committeemen and women who openly supports Trump, told Politico.
Yet political watchers are becoming increasingly resigned to the potential for the first brokered convention in decades. Although Trump has a wide lead in delegates, Cruz is posing a stiff challenge in several upcoming contests — most notably Wisconsin, where the Texan is currently polling ahead just before next week's primary vote. Meanwhile, Trump's polling among key demographics suggest he could face stiff resistance from certain voting blocks in the general election.
The full story can be found on Politico's website.