After Losses, Can Trump Get To 1,237 Delegates?


Media outlets are asking today whether or not Donald Trump can feasibly reach the required number of delegates to secure the Republican nomination before a contested convention this summer. CNN posed the question this morning, analyzing the impact that the Ted Cruz and John Kasich campaigns have had on Donald Trump’s momentum. The short answer, according to CNN is yes.

“To stop the billionaire from hitting the magic number of 1,237 delegates needed to seal the Republican nomination and to raise the prospect of a contested convention, they must do more than simply start snapping up victories in the remaining nominating contests,” reports CNN on the Trump campaign this morning.

It’s been asked before whether or not Donald Trump has the staying power to reach the required number of delegates to seal the deal, and we’ve even reported on it here at the Inquisitr. However, after the last round of presidential primaries and caucuses, Donald Trump is closer than ever, leaving some to speculate on whether or not Ted Cruz and John Kasich could stop or even slow down the juggernaut that has been the Trump campaign.

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“If things continue on the same trajectory that they are on right now, Trump is going to get 1,237 delegates or awfully close to 1,237,” said Professor Joshua Putnam of University of Georgia, an expert on presidential delegate statistics, speaking with CNN about Trump’s chances in the primary.

The question of whether Trump can reach 1,237 has been asked since the very beginning of the presidential campaign, but as it winds down, CNN reports that the question has shifted from “can Trump do it” to “when will Trump do it” and “what can be done to stop him.” In an analysis piece published this morning, CNN speculates that it is possible for rivals Cruz and Kasich to stop Trump from reaching 1,237, but the prospects are grim, even after Trump’s crushing loss in Utah.

“Both men would have to start winning big in precincts and entire states that look nothing like those where they have had success so far,” says CNN in a report analyzing the delegate math.

Cruz and Kasich would have to, according to CNN, “reshape the political map” in order to start beating Trump in contested states, where the Republican front-runner has capitalized on his crossover appeal among Republican moderates and more conservative wings of the Republican party. Trump’s appeal is, according to CNN, more broad than the appeal Cruz and Kasich offer to Republican voters. Mainstream Republican voters gravitate toward Kasich for his moderate views, while evangelicals and the far right of the Republican party are drawn to Ted Cruz’s views and track record as an outsider. Trump tends to draw a little bit of both, particularly in states with varied voter bases, reports CNN.

The real math behind the Trump question is a shocker at this stage in the Republican race. It’s even more clear-cut than the delegate math on the Democratic side of things, where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continue to have a somewhat contested election fight.

According to CNN, Donald Trump only needs 55 percent of the remaining delegates to win the nomination, Cruz needs 86 percent, and Kasich needs an impossible number: 121 percent.

The improbability of a Kasich nomination drew the ire of Ted Cruz this week when he commented on Trump and the race.

“You can’t lose every state and expect to be the nominee, right now Kasich’s role is really being a spoiler. Kasich benefits Donald Trump,” Ted Cruz told CNN on Wednesday.

The race is winding down, but as the Inquisitr reported, it’s really heating up between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, who are continually in the headlines for bitter and increasingly personal bickering.

According to CNN and even the Statesman Journal today, the question of “can Trump do it” may have already been answered.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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