Despite Donald Trump's victory in the Virginia primary at the beginning of March, supporters of Ted Cruz could help the Texas senator pick up more delegates at this weekend's state convention.
According to
Politico, a 13-member slate will be selected this weekend at James Madison University. But Cruz supporters are expected to pack the convention floor and could vote no to the slate and instead, choose a new group that will head to July's Republican National Convention, thereby providing a boost to Cruz in the form of as many as 13 additional delegate votes.
Trump earned 17 delegate votes in the March 1 Virginia primary, one vote more than Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — who suspended his campaign two weeks later. Cruz earned eight votes and Ohio Gov. John Kasich got five.
The extra delegate votes Cruz could receive this summer might give him the edge he's looking for to defeat Trump in the Old Dominion State.
"The Cruz campaign is mobilized in Virginia and they will likely dominate the convention floor on Friday and Saturday," one Virginia Republican central committee member told Politico.
Among the Cruz supporters who could land on that 13-member panel is Ken Cuccinelli, one of Cruz's senior convention advisors and a former attorney general in Virginia.
Cuccinelli told
ABC News this week the Cruz campaign is wining the battle to secure delegates despite trailing in the overall delegate vote total to Trump, 987 to 562.
"Sen. Cruz has done well in Republican states," Cuccinelli said. "I think that tells folks something: Only one of these two can carry on a national campaign that is grassroots-based. You can see that by how we're absolutely cleaning their clock in the grassroots contest that is the delegate battle."
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