A brokered convention occurs when a presidential candidate is unable to secure the majority of delegates needed to win the presidential nomination.
For the Republicans this year, the nominee needs 1,237 delegates to secure that majority. So if, for instance, front-runner Donald Trump receives the most delegates, but not a clear majority, his nomination at the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland would be uncertain.
University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett explained it this way:
“The reason it’s called a brokered convention, that’s a polite way of saying, ‘Hey if nobody has the necessary number of votes then there’s going to be a lot of horse trading and backroom dealing occurring to try to get delegates to vote one way or the other.’”
Technically, when delegates are selected state by state, they’re actually pledged to a particular candidate. However, if after the first round of voting, no candidate wins the nomination, the delegates are released, Jewett, explained. And then those delegates could, in theory, vote for the candidate they then believed would be best to represent the party in the general election.
“Thus we get lots of horse-trading,” Jewett told Eyewitness News. “We get the candidates promising different states and different delegates what they want to hear. We get all sorts of back room deals, everyone trying to get these delegates to then vote for them.”
This doesn’t happen very often. The last time the Democrats had a brokered convention was 1952 when Adlai Stevenson was nominated. For the Republicans, it was 1948 with Thomas Dewey. In both cases, those candidates went on to lose in the general election.
A brokered convention is different than a contested election. The last contested election was in 1976, when Gerald Ford was running for the Republican nomination against Ronald Reagan.
“Technically, it’s not considered a brokered convention because before the first round of voting Ford was able to convince enough delegates to switch so that he won on the first ballot,” Jewett explained.
This year, the possibility of a brokered convention could end up upsetting many voters who thought their votes would lead to the nominee.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of upset people if this actually gets to a brokered convention and particularly if Donald Trump is in the lead and doesn’t end up winning,” Jewett said.
Cox Media Group