In a major shake up, the California Republican Party over the weekend voted to change its presidential primary rules, a move that could leave one candidate with all 169 of the state’s delegates — the most of any state in the nation.
The new rules — which appear likely to benefit 2024 candidate and former President Donald Trump — are part of a larger trend of state GOP parties rethinking their primary guidelines or processes, as reported by the Associated Press last week.
The changes, approved by the California GOP’s executive committee, say a Republican presidential candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in the state’s March 2024 primary election will be awarded all of the state’s delegates.
Previously, Republican presidential candidates could win three delegates for each congressional district in the state. That allowed candidates to hone in on particular districts in California rather than the sprawling state as a whole and still win delegates.
Republican candidates must win about 1,234 delegates out of an estimated 2,467 to clinch the GOP nomination.
Following the vote, the California GOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson argued the new rules would encourage candidates seeking the full 169 delegate prize to campaign in the deep-blue state as well as incentivize Republican voters to cast a ballot.
“Today’s vote by the CAGOP Executive Committee was a massive victory for California Republicans who are eager to have a say in deciding who our Party’s 2024 presidential nominee will be,” Patterson said in a press release on Saturday.
In a general election, California has not voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1988. Its state office holders are all Democrats, and the party has a supermajority in the Legislature.
“Republican presidential candidates will not only be encouraged to spend real time campaigning in our state and making their case to voters, but Republican voters will equally be encouraged to turn out to support their chosen candidate to help them win delegates,” Patterson said.
However, critics argue the changes could make the state less competitive in the primary when there is a clear frontrunner.
In separate polls looking at Trump’s support among California Republican voters conducted in June by the Public Policy Institute of California and Emerson College, the former President came in with 50% support in one and 53% support in the other — indicating, as of now, he has a strong chance of reaching the threshold required to take home all of California’s delegates.
Other Republican parties are looking to shift away from primary elections toward party-run caucuses, where Trump’s support among the party’s grassroots activists could benefit him, the Associated Press reported.
In Michigan, the state’s party voted to change its process of allocating all its presidential delegates based on an open primary election and instead award 16 of the state’s 55 delegates based on the primary results. The other 39 will be distributed four days later in closed-door caucus meetings of party activists.
The report also cited changes or proposed changes in Idaho, Nevada, Louisiana and Colorado.
Patterson said the state’s Republican Party had to change its process to comply with the National Republican Committee’s rules or the California GOP would lose half of its delegates.
If a candidate does not reach the 50%-plus-one-vote threshold in the primary, delegates will be allocated proportionally.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.