--- 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: 2026-08-19T07:44:56.594Z 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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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. 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  Justin Weiss for TIME 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. 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