In Florida, the race for Republican delegates is under way. In the case of an open or contested convention, delegates could play a significant role.
Free elections are the cornerstone of American democracy, or so your high school civics teacher likes to say. But in a contested convention, it’s the delegates who pick a nominee, not the voters. Jeff Howell is the Treasurer for the Republican Party of Florida, and served as a delegate in 2012.
“We’re in a quite unique election year and it’s gonna be very contentious I think. You’re going to be approached by all sorts of groups and asked to vote certain ways,” he said.
Most of Florida’s 99 Republican delegates are chosen by local party officials, 3 for each of the 27 congressional districts. Because party bigwigs have the final say, they often pick other insiders. Some Trump supporters are protesting these meetings, saying they feel shut out of the process. But that wasn’t the case in Congressional District 2, where North Florida Republicans talked delegates over fried chicken and sweet tea. Santa Rosa County Committeeman Martin Simmons said a prayer.
“And Lord today we need wisdom. The candidates running need wisdom as to what to say to the voters, and the voters need wisdom to know who is the person that will best represent this district. For you Lord, and for the Republican Party,” he said.
With every convention comes another opportunity to tweak the rules, and perhaps clear the way for the party’s candidate of choice. The GOP has even set up a website to explain. Here’s the GOP’s Sean Cairncross in a video on that website.
“But maybe you still don’t understand, why is all this necessary? Why can’t the rules stay the same for each convention? Listen, if you’re a delegate, you wouldn’t want to be governed by the rules of past conventions. There’s no reason why the rules that governed Romney’s delegates should be used to govern you,” he said.
Pat Coker is the Committeewoman of Taylor County, and a Ted Cruz supporter. She worries that delegates could scrap the rules, and bring in a candidate who hasn’t run.
“I’m a Cruz person, I’m a strong Cruz person. I believe in the values that he espouses. Trump scares me to death. But because of the way the people have voted, as far as I’m concerned it’s gotta be one or the other,” she said.
But many North Florida Republicans say they’ll play fair, and defend Trump. Here’s a delegate hopeful, Franklin County Committeeman Ned Pooser.
“Every precinct in Franklin County voted for Donald John Trump. He carried this district. As a delegate, I pledge publicly that I will represent faithfully the majority of Republican voters in my county and this district on the 4 th ballot of the 400 th ballot,” he said.
Most delegates are required to vote for the candidate who won their state primary, for the first ballot at least. Florida delegates must vote Trump for three ballots. On the fourth round, they are free agents. Evan Power is the Leon County Chairman, and one of CD 2’s delegates. Despite all the talk of rules and transparency, Power says the way forward is muddy.
“If neither of the leading candidates have closed the deal in three ballots, I think it’s natural for people to start looking outside that group. I think you’ll see new candidates come forward, and at the end of the day I’ll have to look and evaluate who I think can pose the best chance of winning in November at that point,” he said.
If no contender clears the 1,237 hurdle before the convention, who the delegates are and how they will vote, on the fourth ballot or the four hundredth, could matter a great deal.
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