It’s what Donald Trump and his supporters fear: someone who has not been running ends up getting the nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in July.
And Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he thinks that could happen. The Capital Times in Wisconsin reported Thursday that Walker, who briefly ran for president last year, said: “I think if it’s an open convention, it’s very likely it would be someone who’s not currently running.”
He added: “I think any of us who comment on this election have to qualify that almost every prediction’s been off, so it’s hard to predict anything.”
The Republican race for president heads to Walker’s state next, on April 5. The governor has not endorsed anyone and says he’s mulling whether he’ll do so.
A contested convention scenario is what some establishment Republicans are hoping for to stop Trump, the frontrunner. If no candidate wins the majority of delegates — at least 1,237 votes — then the convention will be contested.
Some have pushed Walker’s friend in Wisconsin, Speaker of the House [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore], as a viable option in that scenario. (A Ryan spokesman has said the speaker isn’t interested: “He will not accept a nomination and believes our nominee should be someone who ran this year).
Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, is backing Trump’s rival [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore], arguing that seems to be the best way to get to a contested convention.
“The only path that remains to nominate a Republican rather than Mr. Trump is to have an open convention,” Romney said last week. “At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible.”