Given the presidential campaign this year, more and more attention is starting to be paid to what will happen at this year’s nominating conventions. As this TBT article outlines, on the Republican side of the aisle, competition is fierce for the 99 delegate and 96 alternate delegate spots for the July 18-21 event in Cleveland, Ohio. The Republican state party has provides their delegate process online at this page.
The Green Papers, an excellent resource for election information (if a bit old-school in its HTML), outlines that the delegate allocation is as follows: 99 total delegates – 10 base at-large / 81 re: 27 congressional districts / 3 party / 5 bonus. Florida was a “winner take all” state for this party, resulting in all delegates pledged to one candidate.
How long are these delegates bound? According to a September 2015 copy of the RPOF Rules posted by the Martin County, Florida affiliate:
10 B. All Delegates and Alternate Delegates Awarded to Statewide Winner of Florida Presidential Preference Primary
The Republican presidential candidate receiving the highest number of statewide votes at the Florida Presidential Preference Primary shall be awarded all delegates and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention. The delegates and alternate delegates shall be elected as prescribed by Rule 10(D). The Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, or his or her designee, shall be bound to count and cast all delegate votes for that presidential candidate during the first three convention ballots unless the convention rules state that delegates are bound for more than three ballots. If the candidate to whom the delegate votes are bound releases the delegates or withdraws his or her candidacy, then the delegate votes will not be bound to any candidate. No delegate, other than the Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, or his or her designee, shall be entitled to cast any vote on his or her own behalf until the fourth convention ballot. (emphasis added)
There are some questions being raised, however, as to whether any of the delegates are actually bound to their state’s choices.