Newt Gingrich Just Dropped Out of the Race? What happens to his AT LARGE Delegates?

[DamianTV]

I just saw this on the Local News, jack shit from National News, anyone care to verify this? We know that if any of the candidates drop out, we stand a damn good chance of picking up their Delegates. What kind of position does this leave us in now? I'd have to say for the better, right? More specifically, how many delegates of the 1144 that we need do we have?

[Zippyjuan]

Like Santorum he will probably declare that he has suspended his campaign and can keep his delegates and continue to raise money to pay off his debts.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/report-newt-gingrich-officially-drop-presidential-race-144142321.html

Newt Gingrich will officially suspend his bid for the presidency Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Yahoo News has confirmed through sources close to the campaign.

Gingrich, who was considered Romney's chief rival at the start of the official Republican primary season in January, won two states, South Carolina and Georgia. (He represented Georgia in Congress for two decades.) The former House Speaker said earlier this week he would reassess the future of his campaign based on his support in Delaware, a state he lost Tuesday in a landslide.

The former House Speaker will continue to meet with supporters this week in North Carolina before ending his candidacy next week.


As for a delagate count, the New York Times says Ron Paul has 79, Newt 137, Santorum 260 and Romney 844. http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/delegates but something like one in five delegates at the convention will be unpledged.

Suspended Campaign:
http://politicaldictionary.com/words/suspended-campaign/

Federal law does not define or officially recognize the act of a presidential candidate “suspending” their campaign instead of formally ending it.

CNN: “Practically speaking, if a candidate removes him- or herself from the race without the intent of re-entering at a later date, then there is not a big difference between ‘suspending’ a campaign vs. dropping out entirely. The end result is usually the same: the candidate is no longer seeking that particular office… That said, there are two main differences between ‘suspending’ and ending a presidential campaign: delegates and money.”

Candidates who suspend their campaigns usually get to keep any delegates they’ve won and can continue to raise money beyond what’s needed to retire their campaign debts. In contrast, candidates who actually drop out of a race, usually have to forfeit certain delegates and are limited in how they can raise future funds.

Slate: “The phrase has been employed at least as far back as the 1970s and continues to serve as the most popular way for candidates to end their primary bids without closing down their campaign committees.”

[tsai3904]

Every state has its own rule.

The Michigan GOP has already made all 14 of Santorum's delegates unbound even though Santorum has only suspended his campaign.

[Zippyjuan]

The party can also change its rules at any time including at the convention.

[J_White]

How will his delegates vote on the first ballot ?
vote for him ?
depends on state ?
unbound and vote for anyone they want ?

[DamianTV]

These are extremely good points. If we can get states that have already bound their delegates to unbind them, we might be able to work this to our advantage.

[RickyJ]

The party can also change its rules at any time including at the convention.

That is crazy. What good are rules that can be changed during the contest?

[cheapseats]

What good are rules that can be changed during the contest?


EXTREMELY good, for some.

[cheapseats]

Newt Gingrich Just Dropped Out of the Race? What happens to his AT LARGE Delegates?


X percent of Santorum's support was steeped in Holy Roller-dom. Not so, Gingrich's support.

In no uncertain terms, Newt Gingrich called Ron Paul "dangerous". D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S.

WHERE, I ask, is any meeting of the minds between Paul/Delegates and Gingrich/Delegates?

[DamianTV]

Careful, there are Gingrich supporters on these forums. We're not gonna win over any fans by treating them poorly. Many of the Delegates I've talked to are very very open minded about supporting Ron Paul over Romney.

[Aratus]

Rep. Newt Gingrich is slowly and hesitantly dropping out of the race.
there is an important announcement he will noonishly do on tuesday.