John Kasich's delegates

photo credit: minutemennews.com

What happens now to Kasich's delegates? 

Now that Gov. John Kasich has suspended his campaign for the GOP nomination, my question is: what happens to his delegates? Does it make a difference if he “suspends” his campaign or officially withdraws? Here’s something I found by Rober Eno at ConservativeReview (March 28):

Last week we debunked the myth that John Kasich’s Ohio delegates would be forced to vote for Trump if the Ohio governor withdrew from the nomination fight. To recap, they remain bound to Kasich for the first ballot and were hand selected by his campaign. Now that 66 of Kasich’s delegates are accounted for, what happens to the remaining 79 of his delegates were he to suspend?

Twenty-one additional delegates from Iowa, Virginia, Illinois, and North Carolina are bound to Kasich, even if he withdraws or suspends. That means a total of 87 delegates are bound by rule to vote for Kasich on the first ballot—that is, 60 percent of his delegates.

Thirty-two delegates would be unbound from Kasich on the first ballot were he to publicly suspend his campaign. The delegates are from New Hampshire, Maine, Michigan, and the District of Columbia. Of those, 13 of the actual delegates were selected by the Kasich campaign. The rest were selected by the state party or at a convention.

Twenty-five delegates would become unbound if Kasich specifically unbinds them in writing to a state party, mostly by informing the party that he has withdrawn. They include delegates from Massachusetts, Vermont, Kansas, and Kentucky. These delegates were not handpicked by the candidate.

The single delegate from Nevada can unbind him or herself upon withdrawal by Kasich if she or he so wishes.

If no candidate reaches 1,237 delegates prior to the convention, and John Kasich has dropped out prior to the convention, only 58 of his delegates would be free-agents on the first ballot in Cleveland.

The entire analysis is here.

# # #