A spokesman for Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign said Tuesday the odds for a contested GOP convention would increase if Mr. Rubio wins his home state of Florida on March 15.
“Once we get past March 15, the map gets much more favorable for Marco,” Rubio campaign spokesman Alex Conant said on MSNBC. “If Marco wins Florida, which I believe he will, when we win Florida, then no candidate will be on the trajectory to securing the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination.”
“The odds of a contested convention become much higher after March 15,” Mr. Conant said.
Mr. Conant was asked if it would be acceptable for a candidate who comes in second or third in the delegate count to emerge as the nominee at the convention. Mr. Rubio is currently in third, behind GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
“The convention isn’t until July — who knows what the state of the race will look like then,” Mr. Conant said. “I can tell you there’s certainly historical precedent for what you just described, but we’re quite a ways off from that.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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