Jim Gilmore snubbed for Virginia delegate slot in Cleveland
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore was never going to win the Republican nomination for president--but now he can't even win a spot as a delegate to the convention in Cleveland.
At this weekend's Virginia GOP state convention in Harrisonburg, Va., Gilmore put his name in for one of the 13 statewide delegate slots to go to Cleveland but did not
According to the Washington Post, Gilmore said he had been "informally assured" he would be one of the 13--but that "strong-arm tactics at the convention" kept him from being selected.
Ten of the delegates ended up going to supporters of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and three went to people backing GOP front-runner Donald Trump. (Trump won Virginia's March 1 primary with 35 percent of the vote.) Gilmore has not endorsed a candidate in the presidential race, and the delegates who were chosen are all people who have taken sides.
Virginia has 49 Republican delegates overall: 13 chosen at the state convention, 33 at county conventions and three statewide at-large delegates. Like many states, they are bound to vote based on the Virginia primary results on the first ballot in Cleveland; after that they're free to vote for the candidate of their choosing.
Gilmore said he is still planning to go to Cleveland, even though he's not a delegate. "Technically I'm still a candidate for president," he said. (He suspended his campaign in February when he failed to qualify for the next Republican debate.)