Thread: Donald Trump faces setback in Missouri as GOP, Democrats name convention delegates

APRIL 30, 2016 6:46 PM

Donald Trump faces setback in Missouri as GOP, Democrats name convention delegates


Republicans and Democrats in Missouri have picked their congressional district-level delegates for the July conventions

Some Donald Trump delegates in Missouri are believed to support Sen. Ted Cruz

Kansas Democrats picked at-large delegates Saturday




Missouri Republicans picked 24 convention delegates Saturday. Based on the results of the March 15 primary, Donald Trump will get 15 of those delegates and Ted Cruz will get nine. But at least some of the 15 Trump delegates picked Saturday are actually believed to be Cruz supporters. File photo by Jill Toyoshiba jtoyoshiba@kcstar.com

BY DAVE HELLING
dhelling@kcstar.com

Republicans and Democrats in Kansas and Missouri are finalizing picks for delegates to their parties’ national conventions this summer.

And at least one campaign — Donald Trump’s — is likely to be unhappy about the way things turned out in Missouri this weekend.

Missouri Republicans picked 24 convention delegates Saturday. Based on the results of the March 15 primary, Trump will get 15 of those delegates and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas will get nine.

But at least some of the 15 Trump delegates picked Saturday are actually believed to be Cruz supporters. They could back Cruz on rules, credentials or platform challenges, or switch to Cruz if Trump fails to win a majority on the first ballot in Cleveland.

In Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District, for example, a slate of three Cruz supporters was elected, according to the Associated Press — even though Trump won the district in the March 15 primary.

The 2nd District delegates must cast first-ballot votes for Trump but owe him no other loyalty.

The election of “ghost delegates” in other states has infuriated Trump, who has called the process “rigged.”

The three Missouri GOP delegates from the 5th Congressional District — the district in and around Kansas City — are all bound to Cruz on the first convention ballot, party officials said. The delegates are Jerry Nolte, Jennifer Finch and Steve Solomon.

It isn’t known whether any of the nine pledged Cruz delegates picked Saturday are ghost supporters for Trump.

Kansas Democrats picked convention delegates Saturday as well.

Five at-large delegates, including Sarah Parrish of Merriam and Pamela Darpel of Olathe, are pledged to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Two at-large Kansas delegates, neither from the Kansas City area, are pledged to Hillary Clinton.

Four “party leader” delegates also were chosen Saturday: three for Sanders, one for Clinton.

Sanders was the overwhelming winner of the Kansas caucuses on March 5.

Missouri Democrats, meanwhile, met Thursday to pick roughly half of their convention delegates.

Four delegates from the 5th District — Sarah Starnes and Kelvin Walls of Kansas City, Rachel Gonzalez of Independence and Carl Calcara of Lee’s Summit — are Clinton delegates.

Jared Wight, Catherine Stephenson and Katrina Abella, all of Kansas City, were chosen as Sanders delegates from the 5th District.

Democrats and Republicans in Missouri will pick the remainder of their delegates at state conventions in May.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/polit...e74936522.html

Trump will win it on the first ballot. He will have the 1237 bound before the convention.