The large field of Republican presidential contenders increases the chances that there will be a "brokered" national convention next summer — and even the possibility of a surprise nominee, the
New York Post reports.
"It would be the first time in a long time, but I believe there's a reasonable chance that there will be no clear winner after the primaries are concluded — provided that neither [front-runners Donald] Trump nor [Ben] Carson has collapsed," former New York Republican Sen. Al D'Amato tells the Post.
"At this point, I see a brokered convention in Cleveland."
Another top official, New York state's GOP chairman Ed Cox, tells the Post he, too, sees a "real possibility of a contested convention because there are so many good candidates and no clear leader."
"You could have a lot of maneuvering for support at the convention," he said. "It could be very exciting."
Cox points out that the state's "proportional" April 19 Republican primary — as opposed to a "winner-take-all" format — puts the delegate numbers in play.
"We're not a winner-take-all primary, unlike other states, so our candidates are going to have to come to New York and fight it out to win individual delegates in all 27 congressional districts," he tells the Post.
"I really think New York is going to be the momentum builder because we come after several winner-take-all primaries, and there'll still be 40 percent of the delegate vote left at the time of our primary."
New York, he added, "is wide open" on who will be the best presidential contender.
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RealClearPolitics averaging of national polls continues to show Trump in the lead, with 27.2 percent support, followed closely by Carson at 21.4 percent. The rest of the field is in single digits.
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