Contrary to popular belief, GOP primaries are not binding. It’s not sufficient to gain 1237 delegates in the primaries to automatically win the nomination.  According to GOP convention rules, a delegate is NOT bound to the results in the primary contests.

This rule has been broken once, in 1976 when Ford, concerned about losing “pledged” delegates to Ronald Reagan, forced what is known as the “Justice Resolution”.  This resolution amended GOP convention rules to bind the delegates to vote  according to the results of the primaries. In 1980, this resolution was rescinded.

In other words, every delegate at the 2016 GOP convention can be considered a Super delegate, and as such, they have the privilege of choosing which candidate they can vote  for in the first round of voting, unlike regular delegates from states with binding primaries who must adhere to their state contests’ results, until the second round of balloting.

Food for thought, Mr Trump…