Voters in five states will have their say in the Republican presidential primary process Tuesday. Combined, 14 percent of the delegates required to clinch the GOP nomination will be up for grabs. Even if he won all of Tuesday’s delegates, Donald Trump still wouldn’t have enough delegates to clinch the GOP nomination.
In some states, the rules are simple. In Delaware, for example, whoever gets the most votes gets all the delegates. Other states are more complicated. In states that give each congressional district three delegates, it’s more like several small primaries than one statewide vote.
All polls close at 8 p.m. ET. Here’s a breakdown of how the delegates will be distributed once the votes are counted:
Connecticut
Total delegates: 28
At-large delegates: 10. Proportional representation. If a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the statewide vote, they get all 10 at-large delegates. Candidates must get more than 20 percent of the vote to earn any delegates.
Congressional district delegates: 15. Connecticut has five congressional districts. Each one gets three delegates. Whichever candidate has the most votes in each district gets all three of that district’s delegates. They do not have to get a majority.
Delaware
Total delegates: 16. Winner-take-all. Whoever gets the most votes statewide gets all 16 delegates. They do not have to win a majority.
Maryland
Total delegates: 38
At-large delegates: 11. Winner-take-all. Whoever gets the most votes statewide gets all 11 at-large delegates. They do not have to get a majority. They also get the state’s three RNC delegates for a total of 14.
Congressional district delegates: 24. Maryland has eight congressional districts. Each one gets three delegates. Whichever candidate has the most votes in a district gets all three of that district’s delegates. They do not have to get a majority.
Pennsylvania
Total delegates: 71
At-large delegates: 14. Winner-take-all. Whoever gets the most votes statewide gets all 14 at-large delegates. They do not have to get a majority. They also get the state’s three RNC delegates for a total of 17.
Congressional district delegates: 54. Pennsylvania has 18 congressional districts. Each district gets three delegates. The delegates are directly elected by voters and are officially unbound at the convention. In a way, once they are elected, they are allowed to serve similar to superdelegates like in the Democratic Party; they are allowed to declare or change their presidential preference at will.
Rhode Island
Total delegates: 19
At-large delegates: 10. Proportional distribution. Candidates must get at least 10 percent of the statewide vote to earn any delegates.
Congressional district delegates: 6. Rhode Island has two congressional districts. Each one gets three delegates. If three candidates get at least 10 percent in a district, each candidate gets one delegate unless someone gets more than 67 percent of the district vote, in which case they are guaranteed at least two delegates.
In every state and territory, three of the total delegates are RNC delegates: The national committeeman, the national committeewoman and the chairman of the state party. These delegates are tied to a specific candidate and are not allowed to choose whomever they want, the way superdelegates on the Democratic side are able to.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
