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Jessica Colon
| Jessica Colon | |||
 | |||
| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | Colon & Company | ||
| Role: | Founder | ||
| Location: | Houston, Texas | ||
| Expertise: | Political consulting | ||
| Affiliation: | Republican | ||
| Education: | University of Florida | ||
| |||
| Connections | |||
| Steve Munisteri | |||
Jessica Colon is a Republican political consultant in Houston, Texas. In 2009, Colon founded Colon & Company, a consulting firm that focuses on "political consulting, message strategy, fundraising initiatives and public affairs."[1] She was the national political director for Rick Santorum's 2016 presidential campaign.[2]
Career
Early career
Before becoming active in Texas politics, Colon worked as an intern at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and with Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.). In 2004, she organized and directed Project Deliver the Vote, a grassroots organizing effort that targeted at voters under the age of 40.[3] In 2005, Colon founded the nonprofit organization Fix Our Future, which targeted younger voters and worked for legislation aimed at changing Social Security to include personal retirement accounts.[4]
Colon & Company
In 2008, she managed the state Senate campaign for Joan Huffman (R-Texas). Colon then opened her own Houston-based consulting firm, Colon & Company, in 2009. At her firm, she works "with local candidates to help to maintain the Republican majority in Texas."[5] Colon also campaigned for Steve Munisteri's election as the chair for the Republican Party of Texas in 2010 and for his re-election in 2012.[1]
Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2012
In 2012, Colon joined Rick Santorum's presidential campaign as the Texas state director and also worked as part of the campaign's national finance team.[1] She has also worked for Santorum's PAC, Patriot Voices, as the political director in charge of "candidate endorsements and political strategy."[6]
Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2016
On May 27, 2015, Santorum announced his presidential run in Butler, Pennsylvania.[7] Colon then transitioned from political director at Patriot Voices PAC to national political director of Santorum's campaign.[8]
Santorum ended his presidential run on February 3, 2016.[9]
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
| Jessica Colon | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | District-level delegate |
| Congressional district: | 18 |
| State: | Texas |
| Bound to: | Ted Cruz |
| Delegates to the RNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Delegates by state | |
Colon was a district-level delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Texas. Colon was one of 104 delegates from Texas bound by state party rules to support Ted Cruz at the convention.[10] Cruz suspended his campaign on May 3, 2016. At the time, he had approximately 546 bound delegates. For more on what happened to his delegates, see this page.
Delegate rules
At-large delegates from Texas to the national convention were selected by a state nominations committee and approved by the Texas State GOP Convention in May 2016. District-level delegates were elected by congressional districts at the state convention and then approved by the convention as a whole. At the national convention, all delegates were bound on the first ballot unless their candidate withdrew from the race or released his or her delegates. A delegate remained bound on the second ballot if his or her candidate received at least 20 percent of the total vote on the first ballot. On the third and subsequent ballots, all delegates were to become unbound.
Texas primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Texas, 2016
| Texas Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
| Jeb Bush | 1.2% | 35,420 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 4.2% | 117,969 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.1% | 3,448 | 0 | |
 Ted Cruz |
43.8% | 1,241,118 | 104 | |
| Carly Fiorina | 0.1% | 3,247 | 0 | |
| Lindsey Graham | 0.1% | 1,706 | 0 | |
| Elizabeth Gray | 0.2% | 5,449 | 0 | |
| Mike Huckabee | 0.2% | 6,226 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 4.2% | 120,473 | 0 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.3% | 8,000 | 0 | |
| Marco Rubio | 17.7% | 503,055 | 3 | |
| Rick Santorum | 0.1% | 2,006 | 0 | |
| Donald Trump | 26.8% | 758,762 | 48 | |
| Other | 1% | 29,609 | 0 | |
| Totals | 2,836,488 | 155 | ||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State and CNN | ||||
Delegate allocation
Texas had 155 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 108 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's 36 congressional districts). District-level delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 20 percent of the primary vote in a district in order to be eligible to receive any of that district's delegates. If only one candidate met the 20 percent threshold in a district, he or she won all of the district's delegates. If two candidates met this threshold, the first place finisher received two of the district's delegates; the second place finisher received the remaining delegate. If no candidate won 20 percent of the vote, the top three finishers in a district each received one of the district's delegates. If a candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote in a district, he or she received all of the district's delegates.[11][12]
Of the remaining 47 delegates, 44 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; a candidate had to win at least 20 percent of the statewide primary vote in order to be eligible to receive any of the state's at-large delegates. If only one candidate broke the 20 percent threshold, the second place finisher still received a portion of the state's at-large delegates. If a candidate won more than 50 percent of the statewide vote, he or she received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[11][12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Intelius, "People Search Report on Jessica Benkovic Colon in Houston, TX," accessed June 4, 2015
- ↑ P2016, "Santorum for President," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ Fix Our Future, "The Fix Our Future Team," accessed June 4, 2015
- ↑ Fix Our Future, "Goals," accessed June 4, 2015
- ↑ Campaigns and Elections, "Jessica B. Colon, 34, Republican," accessed June 4, 2015
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Texas Operatives Prominent in 2016 Campaigns," April 19, 2015
- ↑ ABC News, "Rick Santorum on Running for President 2016: 'Ready to Do This Again'," May 27, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedP2016 - ↑ The Hill, "Santorum dropping out of GOP race: report," February 3, 2016
- ↑ Texas GOP, "National Convention," May 19, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
