As things stand, Trump has enough bound delegates to be elected on the first round of balloting. There’s an effort in the Rules Committee to change the rules to allow delegates to vote for whom they prefer. 28 votes in the Rules Committee are needed to get the measure to the floor.
Internal surveys of the Rules Committee conducted by RNC member Randy Evans of Georgia, who is whipping votes trying to help Mr. Trump fend off the insurrection, found at least 18 committee members open to voting to unbind. The Trump campaign’s count shows about 15 leaning toward the so-called conscience clause, according to people familiar with the campaign.
The Journal’s survey of the Rules committee found 20 in favor. 33 could not be reached, and 59 support Trump.
Should the proposed rules change make it to the convention floor, a majority of delegates, or 1237, would have to vote in favor of the change.
Though a majority of the convention delegates are bound to support Mr. Trump, Mr. Evans’s count shows just about 890 delegates are personally loyal to the New Yorker. Another 680 oppose Mr. Trump. That leaves 900 delegates who are presumed to be “in play,” he said. The stop-Trump forces would have to take nearly two-thirds of them to block his nomination.
Evans is a Trump supporter.