--- description: The Republican presidential contest could be headed to a contested convention—that's when there's no clear nominee going into Cleveland title: Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc68c16bbf8ca3931/69889185196cf45d9f03b6fb/contested-convention-2016-election-explained-video1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention by [Mathew Katz](/author/mathew-katz/), [Joyce Lee](/author/joyce-lee/) and [Justin Weiss](/author/justin-weiss/) May 2, 2016 8:44 PM CUT  Justin Weiss for TIME by [Mathew Katz](/author/mathew-katz/), [Joyce Lee](/author/joyce-lee/) and [Justin Weiss](/author/justin-weiss/) May 2, 2016 8:44 PM CUT The Republican [presidential election](http://time.com/tag/2016-election/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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 "undefined"), his [rivals Ted Cruz](http://time.com/4313770/ted-cruz-indiana-troubles/ "undefined") 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4314188/contested-convention-republican-primary-brokered-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4314188/contested-convention-republican-primary-brokered-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz/"},"headline":"Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention","datePublished":"2016-05-02T20:44:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:06:31.238Z","description":"It's possible no Republican will lock up the nomination before the July convention. Here's what happens next","url":"https://time.com/4314188/contested-convention-republican-primary-brokered-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"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=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mathew Katz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mathew-katz/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Joyce Lee","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Weiss","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/justin-weiss/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"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=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Contested Convention","caption":"Contested Convention, 2016 Election, GOP, Democrats, Delegates, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz","creditText":"Justin Weiss for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4314188/contested-convention-republican-primary-brokered-results-donald-trump-ted-cruz/","name":"Everything You Need to Know About a Contested Convention"}}]}] ```