Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Colorado’s preference for the Republican Party presidential nomination is starting to come into focus.
Ted Cruz is the favored candidate among the 587 party activists vying for one of the 13 national delegate slots on the state level — but the majority want to remain unpledged to the Cleveland convention, according to a final list released Friday by the Colorado Republican Party.
Cruz won the support of 30 percent of the potential statewide delegate candidates, compared to just 7 percent for Donald Trump. John Kasich finished with 2 percent, while Marco Rubio and Ben Carson registered 1 percent or less, the figures show.
But 60 percent want to keep their options open and remain unbound if they advance to the national GOP convention.
The statewide delegate list is not necessarily indicative of which presidential hopeful will win the most at the state convention. It’s a complicated process that depends on which candidate’s campaign is most organized and gets its slate elected.
The preference of the party members vying for the remaining 21 delegate slots awarded at congressional district conventions is not yet known.
The Colorado Republican Party will award its first six delegates to a GOP presidential candidate Saturday at two congressional district conventions. The list of party activists competing for those posts in Congressional District 1 and Congressional District 6 are expected to be released later Friday.
The lists of delegates — and whether or not they are pledged to a candidate — in the other five congressional districts are still being audited.
Colorado canceled its binding presidential straw poll at the March 1 caucus, allowing its 37 national delegates to pledge to a candidate or remain unbound.
