With the backing of former President Trump’s campaign, California Republicans on Saturday changed the rules for assigning delegates in the state’s presidential primary. The change could discourage other Republican candidates from campaigning here, making the state less competitive next year. nomination contest.
Tensions rose after the California Republican executive committee approved the plan, pro-Trump demonstrators denounced the move, police were called, and the two factions nearly broke into fistfights.
They argued that state party leadership was trying to undermine the former president, but the California Republican Executive Committee decided to enact state party rules across the country in favor of the Trump campaign for his candidacy. It reflects a concerted effort to The Michigan Republican Party also recently changed its rules to award delegates in ways expected to favor Trump. Republicans in Idaho, Nevada, Louisiana and Colorado are considering other measures that could favor President Trump.
Under California’s new rule, any Republican presidential candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote in the March 5 primary will get all 169 delegates, the most of any state in the nation. If no one reaches this standard, delegates are elected proportionally based on a statewide vote.
State party leaders argued the new plan would attract candidates competing in the state.
“Today’s vote…was a huge win for California Republicans who want to have a say in determining our party’s 2024 presidential nominee,” state party chair Jessica Milan Patterson said in a statement. rice field. “Not only are Republican presidential candidates encouraged to campaign in-state in real time to get their point across to voters, but Republican voters are similarly encouraged to use their own campaigns to win delegates. You will be encouraged to support your chosen candidate.”
But other Republican lawmakers said the plan would increase California’s competitiveness, the system the party has used for most of the past 20 years. ) would actually make it less competitive than if it had stuck to it, said John Fleischmann. He was secretary general of the State Party when it adopted the plan in 2000 (it did not take effect until after the 2004 election).
Such a system would allow candidates to strategically target a handful of neighborhoods instead of campaigning and advertising in giant states, home to some of the country’s most expensive media markets. It will be.
“The net effect of passing this proposal is that the presidential campaign will have no incentive to campaign in California,” Fleischmann said. “It’s too costly to advertise statewide, and too little of an effort to motivate volunteers. So they go to other states, just like ignoring California in the general election.” will ignore California in the primary.”
Polls show Trump could win more than half of the vote in California’s primary, wiping out the state’s gargantuan delegates, according to executive committee members who spoke with campaign officials. The Trump campaign supported the plan because it was shown.
The executive, who spoke candidly about the conversation on condition of anonymity, said Trump strategists also believe Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may have been helped by an earlier proposal that the California Republican Party scrapped. said there is. Under that system, delegates would be assigned to each House district, with two delegates to the winner of each district and one delegate to the runner-up. California is a very large state with 52 congressional districts, so such a system would represent more delegates than several other states combined. A huge “consolation prize” will be created.
The Trump and DeSantis campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
If the California Republican Party hadn’t changed its rules, it would have lost half its delegates at the Republican National Convention, a major blow to the party’s influence. Both plans considered would have met the Kuomintang’s requirements.
California’s primary, along with a dozen other states, will be held on March 5, Super Tuesday. California’s overwhelmingly Democratic leaning makes it uncompetitive for a Republican presidential candidate in next November’s general election, especially if the candidate hasn’t taken a commanding lead in previous campaigns. In the past, the state may have played a key role in determining the Republican nominee. Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina.
By the time California votes, Trump could face four separate criminal charges. He is now accused of paying hush money to an adult movie star late in the 2016 election campaign and of illegally handling and possessing classified documents at his home in Florida after his presidency ended. indicted. The former president was also accused of trying to change the outcome of the Georgia election after the 2020 election and of trying to stay in office after the election loss, including for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. being investigated.
But that didn’t dampen his support from his constituency. More than 50 Trump supporters protesting at the Irvine Marriott on Saturday morning viewed the California Republican Party’s earlier proposal as a deliberate effort to harm President Trump. They resent that the decision was made not by the party’s 1,400-plus members at the fall convention, but by the party’s 100-member executive committee, which is a sign of conservative activism seen across the country. It reflects a distrust of the party leadership. And they argued that a candidate had to win a certain percentage of the votes to win delegates, but to no avail.
“Part of me wonders if they are trying to steal votes from Trump, specifically who is getting stronger. They’re wondering what can be done to steal votes,” said Bonnie Wallace, Speaker of the Greater Pasadena Republican Congress. As a state party representative, she was able to attend committee meetings closed to the press, but she could not vote on the issue.
“So I heard, ‘Oh, we need to open this up to welcome all candidates…if they get 5% of the vote, they get something. ‘Deaf,'” Wallace added. Read “CAGOP and RNC Why Not Trump?” Stop supporting corruption! “As you know, we have to cut things down. No participation trophies.”
The Executive Committee approved the delegate allocation plan by a vote of 53 to 16. Officials from the parties said they couldn’t wait for the convention to discuss the issue, given the looming deadline to submit the plan to Republican lawmakers across the country.
The protests have been fueled in part by the anger and confusion that has been soared on social media, with far-right activists blaming Milan Patterson and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Bakersfield), who effectively control the state party. elected) is trying to derail Trump’s candidacy.
“They’re orchestrating a middleman convention at the national convention and trying to change the law so they can steal the Republican nomination from Donald Trump,” said a Florida-born Trump supporter and massive online supporter. Laura Loomer, who has a history of spreading conspiracies in She said on Twitter on July 20th: [Millan Patterson] and [McCarthy] To avoid deceptive rule changes designed to undermine Donald Trump. “
Milan Patterson and McCarthy did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations.
Demonstrators wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats and waving flags of Americans, President Trump, and “Don’t Step On Me” Gadsden gathered outside the committee meeting, calling Mr Trump’s name and the words “America・Fast!” After they tried to enter the rally but were stopped by security, Irvine police officers showed up and tried to calm their feelings. Then two pro-Trump factions began shouting at each other, one accusing the other of being a white supremacist and the other responding that their opponents supported open borders.
They started shoving each other and nearly got into a fistfight, but other protesters cut their way in between the two groups.
Organizing Committee member Anna Bryson, a Laguna Niguel resident, was inside the meeting room when she heard a commotion and saw security rushing out of the room, prompting her to do something outside. I noticed a problem.
“We have to fight for votes at the polling place. Not each other. Focus on the people,” said Bryson, who supported the rule change. “Let your friends and neighbors vote Republican, and if you guys are fighting each other, you’re not going door to door discussing our great candidates.”
