President Trump has clinched the Republican Party nomination, surpassing the necessary delegate threshold after victories in the Illinois and Florida GOP primaries Tuesday night.
Trump entered Tuesday night with 1,141 delegates, needing only 135 more delegates to secure the nomination. Having only token opposition from irrelevant GOP rivals, Trump passed the delegate threshold of 1,276 required when he easily won Florida’s 122 delegates, bring his total to 1,330.
“The Republican Party is more unified and energized than ever before and it’s because of President Trump’s leadership and clear record of accomplishment on behalf of all Americans,” Brad Parscale, Trump 2020 campaign manager said in a campaign statement. “As his response to the coronavirus has shown, and as the broad and strong economy demonstrates, the President wakes up every day putting America first in every decision he makes. And voters have responded.”
This makes Trump the undisputed Republican nominee as former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) continues to wage a contested primary battle for the Democratic nomination, despite Biden’s commanding lead in delegates.
Trump’s re-nomination came much faster than in 2016, when he passed the magic number of 1,237 in late May after receiving confirmation of unbound delegates from North Dakota.
Congratulations, President Donald Trump! Tonight Florida put Trump over the top in delegates, securing him as the…
Posted by Republican Party of Florida on Tuesday, March 17, 2020
The President is deeply popular within the Republican Party, as his campaign geared up for the general election battle since January 2017 when reelection papers were filed.
“It shows the enthusiasm behind President Trump, it shows how unified Republicans are behind President Trump and how intense their support for him is,” said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh, who noted Trump has set record vote tallies, even in largely uncontested contests. “Republicans and President Trump’s supporters have been just itching to get involved in the process that will end with his reelection in November.”
Counting vote totals from states which have held primary contests so far, President Trump has earned at least four million votes more than the previous record for total votes cast for an incumbent president in those same states, held by former President Bill Clinton in his 1996 re-election campaign.
The president set vote total records in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. In Texas, Trump won 1,889,006 votes, easily besting total votes for recent previous presidents running for re-election — Barack Obama (520,410), George W. Bush (635,948), and Bill Clinton (796,041).
“Nobody motivates our base more than President Trump, as evidenced by the historic turnout we’ve seen in state after state this primary season,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “Fueled by both our longtime supporters and the thousands of new voters that continue to join our movement, we are united and enthusiasm is on our side. We have the strongest record of success, an unparalleled grassroots infrastructure, and are thrilled to have President Trump as our Party’s presumptive nominee once again.”
Trump will be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, in late August.
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