RNC Member Randy Evans who is heading up Trump's whip team told the Wall Street Journal that Trump had just 890 committed delegates, well short of the 1237 needed to be nominee. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Evans’s count shows just about 890 delegates are personally loyal to the New Yorker. Another 680 oppose Mr. Trump. That leaves 900 delegates who are presumed to be “in play,” he said.”
Delegates Unbound co-founder Dane Waters stated, “These numbers make clear why the Trump campaign is resorting to working with a Democratic Attorney General to strip RNC delegates of their right to vote for someone other than Donald J. Trump.”
As Delegates Unbound reported yesterday, the vice chairman of Trump’s Virginia campaign, John Fredericks, has filed to intervene in a lawsuit by Virginia Republican Delegate Beau Carroll. Carroll sued to ensure all Virginia delegates to the Republican National Convention maintain their right under Republican National Committee rules and bylaws to cast ballots for candidates according to their consciences.
Trump has claimed such efforts are “illegal,” and the Fredericks filing claims Republican delegates should face possible civil and criminal penalties if they choose to vote for a candidate other than Trump. “These numbers must be the reason that the Trump campaign has dispatched their convention parliamentarian to Richmond to testify against the independence of political parties. Clearly this litigation, and these numbers, have them rattled”, stated Eric O’Keefe, cofounder of Delegates Unbound.
This news comes on the heels of a new Reuters/Ipsos poll that shows Trump trailing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton by 13 points, a gap that has widened in recent weeks. Waters added, "Defeating Hillary Clinton should be the Republican National Convention’s highest priority in 2016, and that is more likely to happen if delegates follow their conscience when considering all the factors available by the time the convention starts."
These factors include not just Mr. Trump’s performance so far in the primaries, caucuses, and conventions, but also his support among the electorate and electability, the impact his nomination could have on U.S. Senate and House candidates, his fundraising and campaign organization, his temperament, and whether he would uphold Republican values in office.
"If Trump truly has the support he and his supporters say, then he should have nothing to be concerned about if delegates retain their traditional freedom to vote their consciences," added Waters.
Delegates Unbound
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