CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Donald Trump for President campaign in West Virginia has produced a slate of convention delegate candidates to vote for in the May 10 Primary Election.
The West Virginia Republican Party will have 34 delegates at the GOP National Convention in Cleveland. Thirty-one of those delegates will be chosen May 10 including three delegates from each of the three congressional districts and 22 at-large delegates who are running statewide. The 22 will be made up of the top statewide vote getter and seven from each of the three congressional delegates. Three Republicans automatically qualify including West Virginia GOP Chair Conrad Lucas, National Committee Chairwoman Melody Potter and National Committee Chairman Kris Warner.
It’s a confusing set-up that’s not directly tied to the popular vote, so a slate is necessary to guide Trump supporters through the process, Trump campaign West Virginia co-chair Mike Stuart said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline.”
“If we didn’t put out a slate, effectively we’d be playing Russian Roulette with delegate selection,” Stuart said.
For example, Stuart said, there are 13 Trump delegates in Kanawha County but voters can only choose two. He said voters need to know not to over vote.
“We want to make sure the intent of the voter and the voters know when they go into the ballot booth that if you want to maximize delegates for Donald Trump that you vote for these folks within the rules of the state GOP you’ll be able to go to Cleveland and make sure that Trump gets the support of delegates,” Stuart said.
Stuart said he doesn’t particularly like candidate slates but believes it’s the best way in this case given the circumstances.
“We’ve been around the block a few times here and we know that in a heartbeat folks would steal this out from Donald Trump regardless of the huge numbers he’s going to get in the popular vote and we can’t afford to take a risk,” according to Stuart.
The 10-day early voting period began Wednesday in West Virginia. Those getting a Republican ballot will notice more than three pages of convention delegates, numbering 220 candidates.
There’s been no word from the campaigns of Ted Cruz and John Kasich if they will provide slates in West Virginia.