GOP State Conventions in Colorado and Michigan Continue Delegate Selection Fight

Sen. Ted Cruz addresses more than 1,600 delegates at the North Dakota Republican Convention in Fargo, North Dakota, on Saturday, April 2, 2016. Convention-goers in this red state will on Sunday select 25 of the 28 national delegates who likely will play a role in choosing the Republican presidential nominee. ( AP Photo/James MacPherson)
Sen. Ted Cruz addresses more than 1,600 delegates at the North Dakota Republican Convention in Fargo, North Dakota, on Saturday, April 2, 2016.  ( AP Photo/James MacPherson)
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Today the Colorado and Michigan Republican parties continue the delegate selection fight at the state conventions in Colorado and Michigan:

The Colorado State Republican Convention in Colorado Springs meets today to select Colorado’s remaining 13 of the state’s 37 delegates to the National Convention. Ted Cruz, who is said to have swept 21 delegates — three from each of Colorado’s seven Congressional Districts, will address the convention at 12:30 p.m. Cruz is the only presidential candidate to do so. Sore loser Donald Trump annoyed with his incompetence in the delegate selection battle, which he didn’t understand was part of a presidential campaign, first canceled a rally in Colorado Springs, and then decided to snub the state convention and not attend. Spoiling Kasich will be sending another surrogate as he did in Wisconsin. The final three Colorado delegates are the three reserved in every state for party leaders — the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the state Republican Party.

According to CNN, some 600 candidates are running for Colorado’s 13 remaining delegates. They will each be allowed 10 seconds to make their pitches to the convention. Team Cruz has been recruiting delegate candidates and building their preferred delegate slates since late last year — seeking out well-known local political figures who would have enough name recognition to win, and courting delegate candidates who have attended previous Republican National Conventions and would be familiar with the floor rules.

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The Michigan State Republican Convention in Lansing will select the state’s 59 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Michigan’s delegate allocation will be 25 for Trump and 17 each for Cruz and Kasich. That allocation is based on the percentage of Michigan’s March 8 primary vote each candidate received.

Former state party Chairman Saul Anuzis is helping direct Cruz’s efforts in Michigan. He downplayed expectations that they would pick up additional delegates to vote Cruz on a second or third ballot at the national convention:

“What you usually have is a pretty fair allocation, so I don’t see a lot of gamesmanship being played there,” Anuzis said. “Obviously I would prefer to see people’s second choice be Cruz, but that would be sort of a natural selection process.”
After speaking at the Colorado convention will head to Las Vegas where he will address the Republican Jewish Coalition, at the Sheldon Adelson-owned Venetian, and  spend time before and after with fundraisers who collected $100,000 or more for his campaign this quarter. Cruz is also expected to drop by a summit hosted by a Cruz-supporting Super PAC.

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