Rule 40 and its impact on the 2016 Republican National Convention
 2016 Republican National Convention | |
July 18-21, 2016 Location Cleveland, Ohio | |
President Donald Trump Vice President Mike Pence | |
2016 Convention Rules • Rule 12 • Rule 16 • Rule 40 • Conscience clause • Brokered conventions • RNC Rules Committee • Platform and Platform Committee • RNC Standing Committee on Rules • Republican National Committee | |
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This page examines the effect of Rule 40(b) of the Rules of the Republican Party on the party's 2016 presidential nomination process.
What is Rule 40(b)
Rule 40(b) is a rule found in the Rules of the Republican Party, a series of official guidelines that govern the inner workings of the Republican National Committee, including how it structures and operates the party’s presidential nominating process and its quadrennial national convention.[1]
The 2012 version of the rule required candidates for the Republican nomination for president to be able to demonstrate the written support of a majority of delegates from at least eight states in order to be considered for the nomination at the Republican National Convention. The text of the 2012 version of the rule reads as follows:[1]
| The Republican National Convention approved a package of 42 rules in 2012. In that rules package, rules 1-12 consist of general rules that govern the party and national committee; rules 13-25 focus on the primary process; and rules 26-42 focus on the national convention. |
| “ | Each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a majority of the delegates from each of eight (8) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination. Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules or any rule of the House of Representatives, to demonstrate the support required of this paragraph a certificate evidencing the affirmative written support of the required number of permanently seated delegates from each of the eight (8) or more states shall have been submitted to the secretary of the convention not later than one (1) hour prior to the placing of the names of candidates for nomination pursuant to this rule and the established order of business.[2] | ” |
Where did Rule 40(b) come from?
- See also: RNC Rules Committee, 2016
Rule 40(b) was written by the RNC Rules Committee, a group of 112 party activists who attend the national convention as elected delegates and are responsible for crafting a set of rules that govern the proceedings of the national convention.[3] When the committee met in August 2012 to settle on the rules of the convention in Tampa, Rule 40(b) was already on the books but in a slightly different form. It required candidates to receive a plurality of delegates in at least five states—not a majority in at least eight.[4] In amending and adopting the rules for the 2012 convention, the Rules Committee changed “plurality” to “majority” and raised the threshold from five states to eight.[5] Why?
The purpose of Rule 40(b) has always been to function as a culling mechanism. It limits the number of candidates who can formally be placed on the nominating ballot for the Republication nomination for president at the convention.[6] But what brought about the specific changes to the rule that took place in 2012? Experts have offered two explanations, neither of which excludes the other.
- The most common explanation for raising the threshold from five to eight and changing plurality to majority was that it prevented Ron Paul from appearing on the nominating ballot at the 2012 convention and consequently served to project an image of a unified Republican Party heading into the 2012 general election. At the 2012 convention in Tampa, Mitt Romney was the clear front-runner and he had amassed enough delegates throughout the nominating season to secure his election as the Republican nominee for president. David Byler, an elections analyst for Real Clear Politics, argues that the Republican National Committee raised the Rule 40(b) threshold in order to “limit” Paul’s “visibility and power” and to “present a unified front behind Mitt Romney, the presumptive nominee.”[7]
- A second explanation for raising the threshold from five to eight and changing plurality to majority is that it could have helped protect Mitt Romney from a primary challenger in 2016, had he won the general election in 2012. Noah Millman, a senior editor at The American Conservative, argues that the purpose of the rule “was to forestall a Ron Paul primary challenge against an incumbent President Mitt Romney in 2016, of the sort that President Carter faced from Ted Kennedy in 1980 and that the first President Bush faced from Pat Buchanan in 1992. By raising the bar for having a candidate’s name placed in nomination to outright majorities of eight state delegations, which would be exceedingly unlikely for a challenger to an incumbent President to achieve, the rule removed such a challenger’s leverage at a convention: the leverage to bargain for platform changes and/or speaking time in exchange for support for the nominee.”[8]
Rule 40 and the 2016 National Convention
Rule 40 was widely expected to be a point of contention at the meeting of the convention Rules Committee in Cleveland, though it ended up producing less fireworks than anticipated. Some delegates and party insiders argued that under the 2012 version of the rule only Donald Trump would be eligible to be officially nominated as the Republican Party's candidate for president. As of July 2016, Trump alone had won the majority of bound delegates in more than eight states in primary election contests and caucuses. Ted Cruz won majorities in seven states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin). Delegates and party insiders who opposed Trump's nomination, therefore, feared the 2012 version of Rule 40(b) would prevent them from nominating an alternative candidate. No alternative candidate's name was formally offered up for the nomination at the 2016 convention, however.
At the meeting of the 2016 Rules Committee on July 14, Steve King of Wisconsin proposed a change to Rule 40(b), which he described as a "unifying" amendment after a meeting filled with clashes between pro and anti-Trump committee members. “I’d like to think this kind of amendment can bring us together,” said King. The amendment proposed to return the state threshold back to "five states" for the 2020 nominating season and changed "majority" back to "plurality" but left the 2012 language in place for 2016. It passed by voice vote and was approved by the convention body on July 18, 2016.
Changes to rule Rule 40
| Rule 40 as of 2012: (a) In making the nominations for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States and voting thereon, the roll of the states shall be called separately in each case; provided, however, that if there is only one candidate for nomination for Vice President of the United States who has demonstrated the support required by paragraph (b) of this rule, a motion to nominate for such office by acclamation shall be in order and no calling of the roll with respect to such office shall be required. (b) Each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a majority of the delegates from each of eight (8) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination. Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules or any rule of the House of Representatives, to demonstrate the support required of this paragraph a certificate evidencing the affirmative written support of the required number of permanently seated delegates from each of the eight (8) or more states shall have been submitted to the secretary of the convention not later than one (1) hour prior to the placing of the names of candidates for nomination pursuant to this rule and the established order of business. (c) The total time of the nominating speech and seconding speeches for any candidate for nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States shall not exceed fifteen (15) minutes. (d) When at the close of a roll call any candidate for nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States has received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the convention, the chairman of the convention shall announce the votes for each candidate whose name was presented in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of this rule. Before the convention adjourns sine die, the chairman of the convention shall declare the candidate nominated by the Republican Party for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States. (e) If no candidate shall have received such majority, the chairman of the convention shall direct the roll of the states be called again and shall repeat the calling of the roll until a candidate shall have received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the convention. |
Rule 40 as of 2016: (a) In making the nominations for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States and voting thereon, the roll of the states shall be called separately in each case; provided, however, that if there is only one candidate for nomination for Vice President of the United States who has demonstrated the support required by paragraph (b) of this rule, a motion to nominate for such office by acclamation shall be in order and no calling of the roll with respect to such office shall be required. (b) (1) For the 2016 national convention, each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a majority of the delegates from each of eight (8) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination. Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules or any rule of the House of Representatives, to demonstrate the support required of this paragraph a certificate evidencing the affirmative written support of the required number of permanently seated delegates from each of the eight (8) or more states shall have been submitted to the secretary of the convention not later than one (1) hour prior to the placing of the names of candidates for nomination pursuant to this rule and the established order of business. (2) Beginning with the 2020 national convention and for each convention thereafter, each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination. Notwithstanding any other provisions of these rules or any rule of the House of Representatives, to demonstrate the support required by this paragraph a certificate evidencing a plurality with the affirmative written support of the required number of permanently seated delegates from each of the five (5) or more states shall have been submitted to the secretary of the convention not later than one (1) hour prior to the placing of the names of candidates for nomination pursuant to this rule and the 42 of 44 established order of business. (c) The total time of the nominating speech and seconding speeches for any candidate for nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States shall not exceed fifteen (15) minutes. (d) When at the close of a roll call any candidate for nomination for President of the United States or Vice President of the United States has received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the convention, the chairman of the convention shall announce the votes for each person receiving delegate votes cast in accord with their respective state party rules and state law. Before the convention adjourns sine die, the chairman of the convention shall declare the candidates nominated by the Republican Party for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States. (e) If no candidate shall have received such majority, the chairman of the convention shall direct the roll of the states be called again and shall repeat the calling of the roll until a candidate shall have received a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in the convention. |
See also
- Republican National Committee
- Republican National Convention rules, 2012
- Republican National Convention, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Republican National Committee, "Rules of the Republican Party, 2012," August 27, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "Control the rules committee, control the contested convention," March 16, 2016
- ↑ Republican National Committee, "Rules of the Republican Party, 2008," September 1, 2008
- ↑ FrontloadingHQ, "The Real Import of Rule 40 in 2016," December 14, 2015
- ↑ The American Conservative, "The GOP's Race to the Rules," March 10, 2016
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Why Rule 40 Won't Affect the GOP Primary Outcome," December 13, 2015
- ↑ The American Conservative, "Convention Rule 40 or Right," March 10, 2016
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