He is the Republican Party’s undisputed front runner, yet Donald Trump’s White House aspirations may now depend on a messy fight for delegates he is only now scrambling to address.
Acknowledging a late start in the nuts-and-bolts business of political wrangling, Trump’s campaign on Tuesday will announce plans to open a Washington office to run its delegate operation and congressional relations team, said campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett.
In addition to the new space, Trump has hired a veteran political operative to serve as the campaign’s convention manager. Paul Manafort, a seasoned Washington hand, will oversee the campaign’s “entire convention presence” including a potential contested convention, said Bennett.
“We started ramping up a couple of weeks ago, but we’re rolling now,” Bennett said of Trump’s delegate outreach efforts.
The day before, Trump’s team vowed to pursue legal action against the Republican National Committee to protect his recent victory in Louisiana, one of many states that feature complicated rules allowing campaigns to influence the presidential nominating process weeks or months after their votes have been counted.
A similar process plays out nationwide every four years. Yet Trump’s outsider candidacy is so far driven largely by media coverage instead of the on-the-ground organisation that rival Ted Cruz boasts. Now, Trump must play catch up – especially in the chase for delegates previously bound to former candidate Marco Rubio.
