--- title: Republican Contested Convention Could End 2016 Primary Race description: The Republican presidential contest could be headed to a contested convention—that's when there's no clear nominee going into Cleveland canonical: https://time.com/4314188/contested-convention-republican-primary-brokered-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz/ author: Mathew Katz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-02T20:44:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:50:24.172Z article:section: Politics og:title: Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention og:description: Here's what happens if no Republican clinches the nomination before the convention og:url: https://time.com/4314188/contested-convention-republican-primary-brokered-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc68c16bbf8ca3931/69889185196cf45d9f03b6fb/contested-convention-2016-election-explained-video1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1970 og:image:height: 1108 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Contested Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention twitter:description: Here's what happens if no Republican clinches the nomination before the convention twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc68c16bbf8ca3931/69889185196cf45d9f03b6fb/contested-convention-2016-election-explained-video1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f27897c8-ec8c-4b51-89eb-5ec7a358ba70&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How Does a Contested Convention Work? [Watch (HLS stream): How Does a Contested Convention Work?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PkeHrQBt.m3u8) (3:02)  _Published 2016-05-02. The Republican presidential election could be headed to a contested convention—that’s when there’s no clear nominee going into the party’s July convention in Cleveland._ by [Mathew Katz](https://time.com/author/mathew-katz/), [Joyce Lee](https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/) and [Justin Weiss](https://time.com/author/justin-weiss/) May 2, 2016 8:44 PM UTC by [Mathew Katz](https://time.com/author/mathew-katz/), [Joyce Lee](https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/) and [Justin Weiss](https://time.com/author/justin-weiss/) May 2, 2016 8:44 PM UTC The Republican [presidential election](http://time.com/tag/2016-election/) could be headed to a contested convention—that’s when there’s no clear nominee going into the party’s July convention in Cleveland. If no one candidate [wins the support of 1,237 delegates](http://time.com/4313587/donald-trump-ted-cruz-arizona-republican-convention/) by the time the convention starts on July 18, the nomination could be up for grabs. It will be up to the delegates themselves to choose whether [to nominate front-runner Donald Trump](http://time.com/4313605/donald-trump-ted-cruz-indiana-primary-poll), his [rivals Ted Cruz](http://time.com/4313770/ted-cruz-indiana-troubles/) or John Kasich, or even another candidate. But if Trump manages to win Tuesday’s Indiana primary, the odds of a contested convention will be significantly smaller. In the video above, TIME explains exactly how a contested convention works and how it could create yet another surprise in the rocky Republican race. ## Transcript [ SOUND ] By now you've probably heard people talking about the possibility of a contested convention in this year's Republican race. Contested convention is the great hope. Each party holds a convention to formally decide who it's going to nominate to run for President. Most of the time, we all know going in who that person will be. But in a contested convention it's a very different game. Primaries and caucuses have been all about one thing, scoring delegates on the way to the convention. Every primary and caucus awards delegates to candidates. The delegates are the actual people who will vote for a candidate at the convention. [ SOUND ] If a candidate suspends his or her campaign, they still have the option of keeping their delegates. Let's back up. The first thing to know, the Republican and Democratic parties are private organizations that can set their own rules. This is not a democracy. The Republican party rules say that its candidate needs 1, 237 delegates to clinch the nomination. If no single candidate does that, guess what? Contested convention. Before the convention even starts on July 18th This year, the party gathers to decide the rules. Each convention can have different rules that determine how the delegates will vote for the eventual nominee. It's up to rules committee of 112 delegates to decide. These rules can even be changed to knock a potential nominee out of the contention by making them ineligible, no matter how many votes they go in the primary. Remember, we told you this is not a democracy. But at least when the convention starts, a majority of the delegates have to vote to approve the new rules, so they can't be too crazy. Okay, here we are at the convention, where you've got these thousands of delegates on the floor and now it's time to vote. On the first vote, pretty much everyone has to pick the candidate they're bound to. Remember, that was assigned after the primary votes, or caucuses in each state. Some even are still bound to that candidate on the second vote. Yeah, those are the party rules. But let's say there's still no clear winner by the third vote. Then, most delegates can vote for whomever they want The campaigns will run around, trying to recruit as many delegates as possible before the next vote, and the next vote, and the next vote, until someone gets 1237 delegates. Here's one thing to remember. These delegates can typically vote for anyone who's eligible to ruin for president, so somebody who previously dropped out Could possibly sway all of the delegates to vote for them. In incredibly rare circumstances someone who hasn't even been running can swoop in, convince the delegates to vote for him or her and become the Republican party's nominee for president. 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