After a contentious vote on Sunday, North Dakota Republicans elected 25 unaligned delegates to send to the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland, offering a preview of the confusion and chaos that seems certain to unfold if the party remains unable to unite behind a nominee.
The scene also illustrated what to expect in the coming weeks as state delegations across the country convene to pick the men and women who will ultimately choose the Republican nominee: how opaque the process can be, how quickly events can change and how newcomers to the political system are clashing with longtime party loyalists.
The North Dakota vote was essentially blind, with many of the party faithfuls who gathered inside a junior hockey arena here admittedly unsure whom they were casting ballots for. No candidates for delegate had to declare whether they supported Donald J. Trump, Senator Ted Cruz or Gov. John Kasich.
A disagreement erupted on the Convention floor after a group of Republicans challenged party leaders to bring more clarity to the process by asking delegate candidates to declare which Presidential candidate they would support in Cleveland.
Because of the unusual way North Dakota selects its delegates, all of them, 25 who are elected, plus three more who are automatic "super-delegates", can vote for any candidate at the National Convention. State party leaders have argued that this arrangement makes the North Dakota delegation more powerful in the nominating process.
“Why would you want to do that?” asked Curly Haugland, a veteran of North Dakota Republican politics, rejecting the premise that delegates reveal their intentions and open themselves up to ceaseless pressure. “It’ll be bullets or bouquets. And the bouquets might be poisoned.”
But others argued that not knowing which delegates supported which candidates, and not requiring them to be bound by a popular vote like most other states do, amounted to disenfranchisement.
“I think people are fed up with the process,” said Art Rosenberg, a candidate for one of the party leadership positions voted on over the weekend. “They don’t know what’s going on or who they’re voting for.”
Indeed, even the prospective delegates seemed confused. “I have no idea how my name got there,” said Nathan Joraanstad, an undecided delegate candidate whose name appeared on a list of people the Cruz campaign had endorsed. Mr. Joraanstad said he had not spoken with anyone from the campaign and did not know if he would vote for Mr. Cruz.
In the end, after a spirited floor debate, no one was required to declare whom they would support at the National Convention. And it was difficult to draw many definitive conclusions from the list of 25 delegates who were elected on Sunday. That puts its delegates at the center of a campaign of lobbying, coaxing and wrangling that the Presidential campaigns are beginning to ratchet up. All three Republican Presidential campaigns had representatives scurrying around this city over the weekend.
One of them was Ben Carson, who was adjusting to his new role as a booster for Mr. Trump. It was clear with his candid acknowledgment of Mr. Trump’s flaws that Mr. Carson was not playing the role of supplicant. “I initially thought maybe the best thing would be to remain neutral,” he told the convention hall on Sunday, explaining his reservations about getting behind Mr. Trump. But Mr. Carson, who spent two hours on Saturday night meeting privately with prospective delegates, said he came to believe that if the party did not unite behind a single candidate before the convention, it would be too late to do so before the general election. “It’s not about us. It’s not about our feelings. It’s not about whether we like someone or not,” he said. “It’s about who can win.”
Mr. Carson was not the only Trump surrogate who felt the need to do some explaining in a place known for its “North Dakota Nice” vibe, where Mr. Trump’s brash demeanor might not play well.
Representative Kevin Cramer, the state’s at-large member of the House and one of the few Republicans in Congress to have endorsed Mr. Trump, said he did not understand what all the fuss was about. “I do not fear the Trump candidacy in the way that many leaders in my party seem to,” he said on Sunday with a crowd of about 20 people clad in Trump-branded gear standing behind him.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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