As Republicans prepare to gather in Cleveland for their convention, a federal lawsuit in Virginia is giving new life to the Never Trump movement. But the win in court may be more of a symbolic victory.
A federal judge is tossing out a Virginia state law that binds delegates to vote for the winner of the primary. It’s a widely watched court challenge brought by Northern Virginia attorney Beau Correll, a supporter of Ted Cruz who says he should be able to vote his conscience in Cleveland.
Virginia legal expert Rich Kelsey says the state law never made much sense.
“You have a state law requiring a third party, and that party really is the political party, the GOP to follow a certain formula based upon the winner in the state."
But Geoff Skelley at the University of Virginia Center for Politics says this is more of a symbolic victory for the Never Trump crowd because the rules of the convention are still likely to bind the Virginia delegates, regardless of what the state law is.
“The efforts to stop Trump so far have been completely ineffectual. So why would we think they are going to succeed now?"
This is not the first time that delegates have tried to buck the will of the primaries. Back in 1964, Barry Goldwater largely bypassed the primaries but won the Republican nomination anyway. A few years later, supporters of Ted Kennedy started a “Free the Delegates” campaign to deny Jimmy Carter the Democratic nomination in 1980.
