CLEVELAND— Donald Trump on Tuesday clinched a majority of delegate votes to become the nominee for president at the Republican National Convention, despite some earlier rumblings of yet another symbolic floor protest among some delegates.
Trump won’t officially accept the nomination until Thursday. But he’ll appear at the convention later Tuesday. Just before the billionaire businessman reached the magic delegate number, Trump’s children arrived on the convention floor with the New York delegation to watch the roll call.
New York, Trump’s home state, clinched the nomination, with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., officially announcing that the delegation was putting his father over the top.
Illinois cast 54 votes for Trump; nine for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and six for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. In his introduction to the vote, Illinois Republican Chairman Tim Schneider called Governor Bruce Rauner “the finest governor in our nation.”
Prior to the nominating roll call, there were rumblings that some anti-Trump delegates were working to secure Cruz a nomination. If Cruz had garnered at least eight states, he would have been placed in nomination along with Trump. That’s something Cruz, who will be speaking during a primetime slot on Wednesday night, does not have an interest in.
Colorado — considered to be anti-Trump — cast 31 delegates for Cruz and just four for Trump. There were some boos in the convention hall after that vote.
Delegates are bound by the rules to vote for the candidate they were assigned. That means Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Kasich got votes. Cruz has not yet released his delegates.
Trump’s magic number was 1,237 delegates.
Tuesday’s primetime speech theme will be “Make America Work Again.” Two of his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Tiffany Trump will address the crowd. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and U.S Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will also speak.
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Delegates on Monday staged a bit of a protest on the convention floor and tried to change convention rules in a symbolic movement against Trump. Backers of that protest said they’d also protest Trump’s nomination during the roll call Tuesday.
Also on Monday, Melania Trump’s speech garnered some unwanted attention as observers noticed its similarity to a speech delivered by Michelle Obama in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention.