Former President Donald Trump has won the last remaining unresolved delegate from New Hampshire, giving him a 13-9 delegate advantage in the Granite State over former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The Associated Press allocated the final delegate based on the latest vote results from the Jan. 23 primary in accordance with the state’s unusual rules regarding the allocation of Republican delegates.
Quick Read
- Trump Secures Final NH Delegate: Donald Trump wins the last undecided delegate in New Hampshire, leading Nikki Haley 13-9 in the state.
- AP’s Delegate Allocation: The Associated Press determined the delegate based on New Hampshire’s unique Republican delegate rules after the Jan. 23 primary.
- GOP vs. Democratic Rules: Unlike the Democratic primaries’ uniform delegate system, Republican delegate allocation varies by state.
- New Hampshire’s System: In New Hampshire, 22 Republican delegates are distributed proportionally based on primary vote percentages, with a 10% minimum threshold for eligibility.
- Primary Results: Trump and Haley were the only candidates to surpass 10%, receiving over 54% and 43% of the vote, respectively.
- Rounding Rule: New Hampshire rounds vote percentages to whole numbers before calculating delegate distribution, leading to 12 delegates for Trump and 9 for Haley initially.
- Winner’s Bonus: The state awards any remaining delegate to the top vote-getter, giving Trump the final delegate.
- Path to Nomination: A candidate needs 1,215 delegate votes to secure the Republican nomination, with Trump currently leading Haley 33-17 after Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Associated Press has the story:
Donald Trump wins the final delegate out of New Hampshire
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
Former President Donald Trump has won the last remaining unresolved delegate from New Hampshire, giving him a 13-9 delegate advantage in the Granite State over former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The Associated Press allocated the final delegate based on the latest vote results from the Jan. 23 primary in accordance with the state’s unusual rules regarding the allocation of Republican delegates.
Unlike in the Democratic presidential primaries, where all states follow a mostly uniform delegate allocation procedure, Republican delegate rules vary state by state. In New Hampshire, 22 Republican delegates are awarded to candidates in proportion to statewide primary results. For example, a candidate who receives 50% of the primary vote will receive 50% of the delegates at stake, or in this case, 11 delegates. The rules also state that a candidate must receive at least 10% of the primary vote in order to qualify for any delegates.
Only two candidates received more than 10% of the primary vote in New Hampshire – Trump, who received a little more than 54%, and Haley, who received a little more than 43%. In most states, the delegate math would involve multiplying these percentages – including the decimals – by the total number of delegates at stake. However, in New Hampshire, the first step in allocating Republican delegates is to round the vote percentages to the nearest whole percentage, which would be 54% for Trump and 43% for Haley. These whole percentages are then multiplied by the total number of Republican delegates at stake, which in New Hampshire is 22.
This produces an initial result of 11.88 delegates for Trump, which rounds to 12, and 9.46 delegates for Haley, which rounds to 9.
This accounts for 21 of the state’s 22 delegates. In New Hampshire, any unallocated delegates are awarded to the top vote-getter, which in this case is Trump. This is sometimes referred to as a “winner’s bonus.”
Based on these rules, the final delegate allocation in New Hampshire is 13 for Trump and 9 for Haley.
In order to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, a candidate must win a majority of delegate votes – 1,215 – at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this summer. After Iowa and New Hampshire, Trump leads Haley in the overall delegate count, 33-17.
