Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has hired longtime veteran Republican strategist Paul Manafort to help court delegates heading into July’s Republican National Convention.
A veteran of campaigns by Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Manafort helped lead Ford’s efforts at the contested 1976 convention, where Ford narrowly beat back Reagan.
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According to a press release, Manafort will be “responsible for transitioning the Trump campaign’s activities as they relate to Mr. Trump’s nomination at the convention.”
The hiring shows a renewed focus on delegate strategy and a potential floor fight at a GOP convention. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ted Cruz’s campaign picked off uncommitted or unbound delegates in Louisiana, taking the lead in the state’s delegate count even though Trump narrowly won the state.
Since then, Trump has been outspoken against the process and said that he challenges the delegate apportionment.
“Paul is a great asset and an important addition as we consolidate the tremendous support we have received in the primaries and caucuses, garnering millions more votes than any other candidate,” Trump said in a statement. “Paul Manafort, and the team I am building, bring the needed skill sets to ensure that the will of the Republican voters, not the Washington political establishment, determines who will be the nominee for the Republican Party.”
After Reagan’s victory in 1980, Manafort ran one of the top political consulting shops in Washington, D.C., along with longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, who is no longer with the campaign, and Charles Black. Black is set to play a similar role for Ohio Gov. John Kasich at July’s convention.
