Weekend Results Give Hope to ‘Anybody but Trump’
On a day when only 30 delegates were awarded, none of the Republican presidential candidates were going to have a breakout day.
But Saturday, all of the candidates not named Donald Trump had reason for hope going into Super Tuesday II. That’s because the front-runner only won one delegate while the other 29 were distributed evenly among the other three candidates.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who faces a critical test Tuesday in his home state, won 11 delegates. He received 10 with his win in the District of Columbia, which gave him another delegate majority to go with the one he won in Puerto Rico.
The eventual GOP nominee needs at least eight delegate majorities in states or territories.
Remaining nine delegates from the District of Columbia went to Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Less than 3,000 votes were cast in the D.C. delegate convention. Rubio received 1,059 votes, Kasich 1009, Trump 391, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz 351.
Another big delegate haul took place Saturday in Wyoming, where county conventions were held, resulting in the distribution of 12 of the state’s 29 delegates. Cruz, who received a majority in nine counties, won nine delegates. Rubio and Trump each won one county, while the final delegate was undeclared.
The rest of Wyoming’s delegates will be awarded at the state convention on April 16.
Guam also held its territorial caucus on Saturday. And while a presidential preference poll was held, the results were not publicized, and party bylaws do not require delegates be bound by the poll.
Of the nine delegates awarded, only one was declared for a candidate: Cruz. This is considered a “soft pledged” delegate as he or she is in no way obligated to vote for the Texas senator at the national convention this summer.
The new delegate counts, as they stand now:
1. Donald Trump, 465 (seven delegate majorities)
2. Ted Cruz, 374 (four delegate majorities)
3. Marco Rubio, 165 (two delegate majorities)
4. John Kasich, 63