HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Puerto Rico Republicans plan to stick together and vote as a bloc should Donald Trump fail to secure the GOP presidential nomination on first ballot at the party’s quadrennial convention.
The U.S. territory’s 23 delegates are bound to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on the first round of voting and aren’t likely to be Trump supporters. But the delegation’s approach to a possible contested convention is an example of the strategizing underway by Republican insiders and party activists who are gaming out what might happen, and their options for influencing the nomination.
“The agreement we’ve come to is that we’ll stay together as a bloc,” said Jose Fuentes, who was attending the Republican National Committee’s spring meeting in south Florida. Fuentes ran Rubio’s primary campaign in Puerto Rico, which was among the few the senator won before suspending his White House bid on March 15.
Fuentes said Rubio endorsing a GOP candidate, if he does, could impact what they decide to do if the July convention in Cleveland reaches a second ballot.
RNC members, who are automatic delegates, were meeting at an oceanfront resort in Hollywood, Fla., for briefings on the upcoming convention. They said there are several considerations the delegates are weighing as they ponder participation in their party’s first open nomination floor fight in 40 years.
