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Justin Clark (Connecticut)
| Justin Clark | |
 | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | Delegate |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Bound to: | Donald Trump |
| 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 | |
| Justin Clark | |
| Basic facts | |
| Current Campaign: | 2016 Republican National Convention |
| Role: | Delegate |
| Location: | West Hartford, Conn. |
| Affiliation: | Republican |
| Education: | •Wesleyan University •University of Connecticut |
Justin Clark was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Connecticut. All 28 delegates from Connecticut were bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention. As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016.
In 2012, Clark was a Republican candidate for District 5 of the Connecticut State Senate.[1]
Career
After receiving his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and a law degree from the University of Connecticut, Justin Clark served as a clerk in the Connecticut Supreme Court to Justice Peter Zarella from 2006 to 2007. Clark briefly worked in a private law practice, Pepe & Hazard, before serving as the campaign manager for Tom Foley's (R) 2010 Connecticut gubernatorial run.[2]
After the 2010 election cycle, Clark joined the law firm Davis, Clark, and Bonafonte as a partner in 2011. At that time, he also began working as the general counsel for the Republican Party of Connecticut, a role he kept until 2013.[2]
In the 2012 election cycle, Clark was an advisor to Linda McMahon (R), who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D). According to the Connecticut Post, Clark was one of a handful of nationally prominent strategists hired by McMahon; he was paid $10,000 a month for his services.[3] As a strategist for McMahon, Clark was involved in the decision to air ads featuring supporters of President Barack Obama (D) and McMahon. Clark claimed that the ads were aimed at Independent voters and were not comments on McMahon's support for Mitt Romney, that year's Republican nominee for president.[4] Clark again managed the gubernatorial campaign of Tom Foley in 2014.[3]
Presidential election, 2016
During the 2016 presidential election, Clark initially supported New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). After Christie suspended his presidential campaign, Clark was hired by Donald Trump (R) to manage his campaign in Connecticut.[5] He was in charge of choosing Trump delegates to the convention.[6]
Delegate rules
Delegates from Connecticut to the Republican National Convention were selected by the presidential candidates and approved by the state executive committee of the Connecticut Republican Party in May 2016. Delegates from Connecticut were bound to vote at the convention for the candidate to whom they were allocated based on the results of the state primary election. Delegates were allowed to vote for a different candidate after the first round of voting or if their candidate released them.
Connecticut primary results
| Connecticut Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
 Donald Trump |
57.9% | 123,484 | 28 | |
| John Kasich | 28.4% | 60,503 | 0 | |
| Ted Cruz | 11.7% | 24,978 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 0.8% | 1,731 | 0 | |
| Other | 1.3% | 2,676 | 0 | |
| Totals | 213,372 | 28 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and Connecticut Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
Connecticut had 28 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 15 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's five congressional districts). Connecticut's district delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who won a plurality of the vote in a district received all of that district's delegates. If a candidate won more than 50 percent of the statewide primary vote, he or she received all of the state's district delegates.[7][8]
Of the remaining 13 delegates, 10 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 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.[7][8]
Elections
2012
- See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2012
Clark was running in the 2012 election for Connecticut State Senate District 5. Clark was running unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012. However, his name was removed from the list candidates prior to the primary.[1]
See also
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
- RNC delegate guidelines from Connecticut, 2016
- Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Connecticut Secretary of State, "Candidate List," accessed July 31, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 LinkedIn, "Justin Clark," accessed July 18, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Connecticut Post, "McMahon, Murphy's inner circles a sharp contrast," October 6, 2012
- ↑ The King's View, "The Plot Thickens," October 24, 2012
- ↑ Hartford Courant, "Suddenly It Matters: GOP And Democrats Gear Up For Connecticut Primary," April 11, 2016
- ↑ Connecticut Mirror, "If Trump wins, his campaign will seek CT delegates it can trust," April 22, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
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