Thursday, April 21, 2016

First Read: Why Pennsylvania's Delegate System Matters

 
First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter.
 
The importance of Pennsylvania and its 54 free-agent delegates

Next Tuesday will feature essentially two different Pennsylvania Republican primaries -- the one we see (Donald Trump vs. Ted Cruz vs. John Kasich), and the one we won't (the fight for the state's 54 free-agent delegates). Indeed, it's that second primary that very well could determine whether or not Trump reaches the 1,237 delegates needed to win the GOP presidential nomination. Here's how Pennsylvania's delegate allocation works: 17 delegates are awarded to next week's Republican winner, and Trump is leading his GOP rivals by double digits in the Keystone State, according to a new Franklin & Marshall poll. But the state's other 54 delegates will be elected on the ballot -- with no clue to voters whom they might support at the convention -- and they will act as free agents heading into July's GOP convention. How big of a deal is Pennsylvania's delegate-allocation system? As the New York Times' Nate Cohn has estimated, Trump would be favored to win about 60 delegates if it were winner-take-all by congressional district, or 40 delegates if they were awarded proportionally. But the most he can get from a big win (at least on Primary Day) is 17 delegates. And how many of those 54 unbound delegates Trump can convince to vote for him could be the difference between reaching 1,237 on that first convention ballot and missing it. 

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Source: NBC News

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