Everything you need to know about delegate allocation at the RNC
American Samoa has six delegates, while Texas has 155
Who determined delegate allocation?
At the 2012 Republican National Convention, the GOP not only adopted its platform for the next four years, but also the rules governing the party until the next national convention. Rule 14, “Membership in Convention” detailed the delegate allocation process for the 2016 Convention.
Three types of delegates
There are three basic types of delegates allocated to each state: at-large delegates, Congressional district delegates, and RNC members. Every state is awarded 10 at-large delegates and three delegates for every Congressional district. A state party’s national committeeman, national committeewoman and state chair are automatically delegates.
In addition, a state can also earn bonus at-large delegates based on the state’s voting record.
What’s a bonus delegate?
Bonus delegates are awarded to states which have voted Republican over the past four years.
The first way for a state to have earned bonus delegates is to have cast the majority of its electoral college votes in 2012 for Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president. To determine the number of bonus delegates awarded, the RNC calculates 60 percent of the number of electoral votes the state has and adds an additional four and half delegates to that number. Any fraction is rounded up.
Also, a state can earn one bonus delegate for electing a Republican governor, another one if the majority of its delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives is Republican, one for each Republican U.S. Senator representing the state, one delegate if a chamber of the state’s legislature has a Republican majority, and one more if there is a Republican majority in all chambers of the state’s legislature.
What’s the deal with non-states?
The Republican Party determined the allocation of at-large delegates for each non-state individually: 20 for Puerto Rico, 16 for DC, and six for all others. They all also have their three RNC members as delegates.
What state has the most?
California will have the most delegates (172), mostly thanks to its 53 Congressional districts. Texas is second with 155, including 34 bonus delegates which is the most of any state.
The least?
The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands all have nine delegates going to the Convention. They each have six at-large delegates plus their three state party leaders.
Alright, but who ARE the delegates?
The national party does not govern how a state choses its delegates, and thus it varies state by state. An at-large delegate can be any resident of the state he or she represents, while a Congressional district delegate must be from a specific district.