How does the Republican Party select its candidate for President?
In January of each Presidential election year, the Democrats and Republicans begin the process of selecting their candidate for the Presidency. Candidates will compete in a series of state by state elections, begin in Iowa and ending with in Montana, South Dakota, New Mexico and New Jersey in June.
Each state awards a specified number of delegates. This is done on either a winner takes all basis or done proportionally based on their vote share. For example, Iowa, which voted first on January 15th, has 40 delegates to award. It does so on a proportional basis. So, when Donald Trump won 51% of the vote he was awarded 20 delegates. Ron De Santis won 23% of the vote and was awarded 9 delegates. Nikki Haley won 21% of the vote and was awarded 8 delegates. Some states, such as South Carolina, have a winner takes all system in which the winning candidate takes all of the delegates. South Carolina has 50 delegates to award and as the home state of Nikki Haley it is not inconceivable that she could win by a single percentage against Trump and be awarded all 50 delegates, bringing her right up in the race to secure the nomination.
The winner is the first candidate to reach 1,215 delegates. These delegates are then pledged to support that candidate at the Party Convention in the Autumn when the nominee will be officially declared.
In 2024, it appears that the question is how soon Donald Trump will reach the required 1,215 delegates rather then if he does so.
