Gingrich challenging the Florida delegate allocation?

04 Feb, 2012 by TrogloPundit

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The Newt Gingrich campaign is gearing up to challenge the results of the Florida Republican presidential primary based on the Republican National Committee’s own rules which state that no contest can be winner-take-all prior to April 1, 2012. (See RNC memo.)

The Romney campaign — and just about everybody else, it seems — figured they’d won all of Florida’s 50 delegates. But Gingrich is saying they should be split up proportionately.

Fox News has learned exclusively that on Thursday, a Florida Gingrich campaign official will begin the process of trying to have the RNC rules enforced so that the Sunshine State delegates are distributed based on the percentage of the vote each candidate got.

…Tuesday night’s Romney victory in the Sunshine State awarded the former Massachusetts governor all 50 Florida delegates (the state was already docked half its delegates for moving the election up on the calendar). Romney won the primary with 46 percent to Gingrich’s 32 percent. Rick Santorum finished third with 13 percent and Ron Paul with 7 percent.

That’d be 23 delegates for Romney, 16 for Gingrich. Much better than 50-0, although the damage done momentum-wise may already be too great. Didn’t I read that Romney’s leading in Nevada and Arizona?

Another question, although this may be looking too far ahead: what will Florida’s Republicans think of it, if Gingrich succeeds? They’ve already had their delegates cut by the national GOP for moving their primary up too far. If Gingrich succeeds, will Florida hold a grudge?

I kind of doubt it, but what the hell. We’re all pundits here. Let’s speculate wildly.

(Posted by The TrogloPundit.)