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Peter Greathouse
| Peter Greathouse | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | At-large delegate |
| State: | Utah |
| 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 | |
Peter Greathouse was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Utah. All 40 delegates from Utah were bound by state party rules to support Ted Cruz at the convention.[1] 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.
Roll call vote
In the roll call vote that took place at the convention on July 19, 2016, the Utah delegation reported 40 votes for Ted Cruz in accordance with the results of the state's 2016 Republican caucuses. The convention secretary, however, recorded all 40 votes from Utah for Donald Trump. Ballotpedia spoke with Greathouse in Cleveland. He said, “We came here with the understanding [Cruz] was still a candidate and that we’d be voting for him. We were told he was still a candidate.” But Greathouse added that before the Cruz delegates set off for Cleveland, they wondered about their status: “The question arose, are we bound to him or not?” Greathouse said that he and other Cruz delegates assumed that Cruz’s name would be put in nomination at the convention, rendering a state party rule that delegates can not vote for a candidate who is not a candidate at the national convention a non-issue. Greathouse said that the Cruz delegates from Utah submitted the requisite signatures to have the Texan nominated, and they assumed that other states that Cruz had won in the nominating process were going to do the same. Under the rules of the 2016 Republican National Convention, a candidate needed to have captured a majority of delegates in eight states. Greathouse said that delegates were aware of the state party rule that meant the entire delegation might be committed to Trump if he was the only candidate nominated, but they just assumed Cruz was also going to be nominated. He added, “I’ve already been told there will be a movement to try to change it [the state party rule].”
Delegate rules
Delegates from Utah to the Republican National Convention were elected at the Utah state GOP convention in April 2016. All Utah delegates were bound by the results of the state's caucus on the first ballot. If a candidate allocated delegates did not compete at the national convention, then his or her delegates were reallocated and bound to the remaining candidates.
Utah primary results
- See also: Presidential election in Utah, 2016
| Utah Republican Caucus, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
 Ted Cruz |
69.2% | 122,567 | 40 | |
| John Kasich | 16.8% | 29,773 | 0 | |
| Donald Trump | 14% | 24,864 | 0 | |
| Totals | 177,204 | 40 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and CNN | ||||
Delegate allocation
Utah had 40 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 12 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's four congressional districts). District delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 15 percent of the statewide caucus vote in order to be eligible to receive any district-level delegates. If a candidate received more than 50 percent of the statewide caucus vote, he or she received all of the state's district delegates.[2][3]
Of the remaining 28 delegates, 25 served at large. Utah's at-large delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 15 percent of the statewide caucus vote in order to be eligible to receive any at-large delegates. If a candidate received more than 50 percent of the statewide vote, he or she won 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.[2][3]
See also
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
- RNC delegate guidelines from Utah, 2016
- Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
Footnotes
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