Mother Jones
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Pennsylvania is poised to be the most powerful state at the Republican National Convention. Thanks to an obscure party rule, 54 of the 71 delegates from the Keystone State who will be selected in Tuesday’s primary will not be bound to a candidate at the July convention in Cleveland. And with candidates scrambling for every delegate ahead of a possible contested convention, the state’s delegates could make all the difference. “If Donald Trump gets within 54 delegates, Pennsylvania could be the deal maker or they could be the deal breaker,” says Randy Evans, a member of the party’s rules committee from Georgia.
Pennsylvania holds this much sway because it’s the only state taking advantage of a loophole in a rule the Republican National Committee adopted in 2012, which generally obligates delegates at the convention to vote for a nominee based on the results of their state’s primary or caucuses. That rule was designed to stop insurgent candidates. Four years later, it could have the opposite effect.
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An Obscure GOP Rule Aimed at Stopping Insurgents Is Helping Donald Trump
