GOP Delegates Chosen at Caucus

Nearly a thousand Republican voters attended a caucus at Jefferson Baptist Church Tuesday night — one of 20 caucus locations around the state.  In Baton Rouge, each caucus-goer was asked his Presidential preference, given a ballot, and then allowed to vote for candidates for delegate pledged to the voter’s choice for President.

The vote narrowed the number of candidates for delegate from the Sixth Congressional District to six for each of the Presidential candidate.  For example, Donald Trump had 27 people running for delegate from the Sixth District. Caucus-goers narrowed that number to six.

Each of Louisiana’s six Congressional Districts will send three delegates and three alternates to the national convention.  Theoretically, each candidate for President could win all three delegate spots and all three alternate spots from a Congressional District, which is why the number of delegate candidates was narrowed to six.

Tuesday’s caucuses, which were held on the same day as Super Tuesday, laid the foundation for Louisiana’s Presidential Primary on Saturday, March 5.

Mathematically, it will be almost impossible for a Presidential candidate to win all three delegates and all three alternates from a Congressional District, because party rules provide that delegates must be awarded in proportion to the vote each candidate received in the Congressional District.

By way of explanation, if Presidential Candidate A won two delegates and two alternates from the Sixth District, then the top two voter-getters on Candidate A’s list would be delegates, and the next two candidates for delegate would become alternates.  If Presidential Candidate B was entitled to one delegate and one alternate, then the top vote-getter among Candidate B’s delegate candidates would be a delegate, and the second best vote-getter would be an alternate.

The top six delegate candidates for each of the Presidential candidates from the Sixth Congressional District were as follows:

BEN CARSON

1. Monica Ezell

2. Andrew Ezell

3. Coleman Brown

4. Edward Bertoniere

5. Ronald Gurley

6. Kristi Davis

TED CRUZ

1. Jonathan Davis

2. Kathy Edmonston

3. Robert Reid

4. Kimberly Fralick

5. Derek Babcock

6. Scott Jones

JOHN KASICH

1. Dixon McMakin

2. Haggai Davis II

3. Edward Baker

4. Emily McMakin

5. William Healey

6. None

MARCO RUBIO

1. Leslie Tassin, Sr.

2. Lionel Rainey III

3. Joel Watson

4. Jack McAdams

5. Lynn Coxe Graham

6. Christopher Bailey

DONALD TRUMP

1. Peggy Vidrine

2. Glenda Pollard

3. Lennie Rhys

4. Connie Chittom

5. Nathan Landry

6. Jeffrey Kyzer

Based on national polling, which shows Donald Trump as the leading candidate, followed by Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, the delegate candidates most likely to be chosen as a result of Saturday’s Presidential Primary would be Donald Trump’s Peggy Vidrine and Glenda Pollard, Ted Cruz’s Jonathan Davis and Kathy Edmonson, and Marco Rubio’s Leslie Tassin Sr. and Lionel Rainey III.