Donald Trump claims more delegates from a divided Michigan Republican Party
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Michigan Republicans awarded Donald Trump 39 more delegates during a state convention Saturday, padding the former president's lead for the nomination heading into a series of "Super Tuesday" primaries.
The Michigan Republican Party held its state convention amid turmoil that included separate meetings of party dissidents across the state - disorganization that could undermine Trump's attempt to win a key battleground state in the fall election.
“We do have a strong unifying head of the party, which is President Trump,” said Matt Marko, president of the North Oakland Republican Club and an attendee at the Grand Rapids convention.
He added: “And if we can get everybody in lockstep behind him - and with what he's running against - I think that we should be able to deliver Michigan.”
Wrapping up a complicated delegate selection process that included a primary on Tuesday, Trump won more than 89% of the official convention vote over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, his last remaining Republican opponent.
In the primary held earlier this week, Trump won just more than 68% of the vote while Haley won just under 27%. Trump claimed 12 convention delegates while Haley received four.
Trump also won Republican caucuses Saturday in Missouri. Idaho is also hosting Republican caucuses, and Trump is expected to do well in that state.
In the nomination race overall, the former president began the day with 155 delegates to Haley's 24, according to the Associated Press.
Haley has vowed to stay in the race and looked forward to Tuesday's contests that will select more than a third of the delegates to the Republican convention in July.
Super Tuesday states include California, Texas, North Carolina, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts. Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and American Samoa.
Trump has now won every delegate contest this year: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.
Saturday's convention in Michigan completed an intricate process set up by a very divided state Republican Party.
Most of the Michigan GOP members who who attended the convention at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids appeared hopeful that their party is turning a new page.
There were debates in some district meetings over who was eligible to vote for delegates. But one thing was for certain: Trump was bound to be the eventual winner of the vast majority of those votes.
The Michigan GOP put together a two-step system for awarding delegates because of a new state law governing primaries.
Michigan's Democratic-majority government passed a law last year moving the state's primary from March to February. Michigan Republicans objected, saying their national party reserved pre-March delegates for a small number of states.
The Michigan Republicans came up with a plan to award 16 delegates based on the pre-March primary. The remaining 39 delegates were awarded at the Saturday convention.
In-fighting within the Michigan Republican Party also complicated Trump's campaign, and could continue to do so.
GOP members ousted former chair Kristina Karamo amid criticism over the way the party was being run.
Karamo supporters tried to organize a Trump convention in Detroit, but those plans fell through. Smaller groups of Michigan Republicans planned small meetings in Houghton Lake and Battle Creek, but they did not amount to much.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump wins more delegates from divided GOP in Michigan
