How Donald Trump Has Already Locked Up the GOP Nomination
The Associated Press made headlines all around the world Thursday morning by reporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has now secured the support of more than 1,237 delegates—the “magic number” needed to win the GOP nomination.
Trump was put over the top in the Associated Press delegate count by a small number of the party’s unbound delegates who told the AP they would support him at the national convention in July. Among them is Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard.
“I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn’t like where our country is,” Pollard said. “I have no problem supporting Mr. Trump.”
It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump has reached 1,238. With 303 delegates at stake in five state primaries on June 7, Trump will easily pad his total, avoiding a contested convention in Cleveland.
And while the headline alone is likely to send Trump supporters into a tizzy, it should be noted that numbers based on unbound delegates aren’t the most reliable means of keeping count. Other outlets have reported higher and lower delegate counts for the likely GOP nominee.
Officially, however, Trump has 1,139 delegates bound to him for the first ballot of the national convention in July. There are 127 uncommitted delegates, who may vote for whomever they wish. Various states’ delegate allocation rules will likely be triggered at some point prior to the convention, as well.
And there are 303 delegates up for grabs in five states next Tuesday, the overwhelming majority of which will go to Trump, based on current polling data. That Trump will have more than 1,237 delegates’ support by the time he arrives in Cleveland in July is now a given.
How he got there depends largely on which version of the story you choose to believe.
