Wisconsinites head to the polls Tuesday to have their say in the presidential primary process. Here’s a breakdown of how the delegates will be distributed once the votes are counted.
Polls close at 9 p.m. ET.
Republicans
Total delegates: 42 — 3 percent of the delegates required to clinch the GOP nomination.
At-large delegates: 15. Winner-take all. Whichever candidate gets the most votes statewide gets all 15 at-large delegates, plus the three RNC delegates. They do not need to get a majority of the votes.
Congressional district delegates: 24. Wisconsin has eight congressional districts. Each district gets three delegates. Whichever candidate receives the most votes in each district gets all of that district’s three delegates. They do not need to get a majority of the votes.
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, they are not allowed to choose whomever they want like superdelegates can on the Democratic side.
Polls give Sen. Ted Cruz a slight edge in Wisconsin. Let’s pretend he manages to win all of Wisconsin’s 42 delegates. Here’s how the national delegate count would look:
Trump: 736 delegates (60 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Cruz: 505 delegates (41 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Kasich: 143 delegates
If Trump manages to win all 42 delegates, the new delegate count would look this way:
Trump: 778 delegates (63 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Cruz: 463 delegates (37 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Kasich 143 delegates
Democrats
Total delegates: 96 — 4 percent of the delegates required to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Superdelegates: 10. Four are already committed to Clinton. The rest are uncommitted.
Other delegates: 86. Proportional distribution. Fifty-seven of the delegates are distributed based on the results in Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts. Twenty-nine delegates are distributed based on the statewide vote. Candidates must get 15 percent to earn any delegates statewide or in a congressional district.
Most polls have Sanders barely edging out Clinton in Wisconsin. Let’s say Sanders wins 60 percent of Wisconsin’s non-superdelegates, or 52 delegates. Here’s how the national delegate count would look:
Clinton: 1746 delegates (73 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Sanders: 1063 delegates (45 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
If Clinton wins 60 percent of Wisconsin’s non-superdelegates, the new delegate count would look like this:
Clinton: 1764 delegates (74 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Sanders: 1045 delegates (44 percent of the way to clinching the nomination)
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
