Donald Trump could easily win Pennsylvania’s popular vote in a couple of weeks — but end up with less than a majority of its delegates under the state’s quirky rules.
A Monmouth University poll released Thursday shows Trump with a large lead in the delegate-rich Keystone State, with 44 percent of the vote to 28 for Ted Cruz and 23 for John Kasich.
Trump leads in all regions of the state ahead of the April 26 primary. But while he may get the most votes, he might not get most of the 71 delegates. Only 17 of the state’s 71 delegates are awarded to the top vote getter.
The other 54 are assigned to candidates running for delegate spots in 18 congressional districts. Under the rules, the 54 elected delegates can vote for whomever they want for president at the GOP convention in Cleveland this summer.
“Our delegates have never mattered before. We’ve never been in play,” said veteran Harrisburg-based Republican consultant Christopher Nicholas. “It’s going to be the Wild West.”
Front-runner Trump needs to hit 1,237 delegates to win the GOP presidential nomination on the first round. He currently has 743, while Cruz has 545 and Kasich 143.
Pennsylvania GOP officials said the Cruz campaign has been the most organized in fielding candidates in delegate races.
But Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said his team is prepared to compete.
“We are the only campaign that has filed a full slate of delegates,” he said. “We do feel good about the candidates for delegates we have in place.”
“We are going to try to educate voters about the candidates who are supporting Mr. Trump.”
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, about half of 129 delegate candidates who responded to a survey said they felt obligated to back the presidential contender who carries their county or wins the state.
In the poll, Trump is ahead in all parts of the state, but performs strongest in the more rural areas from the northeast corner into central Pennsylvania, where he gets 48 percent of the vote.
The race is slightly closer in the western end of the state running from Erie to Pittsburgh.
The contest tightens further in the southwest corner around Philadelphia, with Trump at 40, Cruz at 31 and Kasich with 23.
