Trump Can Win the GOP Nomination Without a Majority of Republicans

Trump’s favorable rating among Republican-leaning voters plummeted from 79 percent in November to 68 percent in February, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour Marist poll. It’s a precipitous drop that’s got political insiders and talking heads musing about his strength as a 2024 primary contender.

And while it’s certainly not good for any candidate to be on a downward trajectory heading into campaign season — or while under multiple investigations, as is Trump — the former president would have to slide much further to fall below the support he needed to win the primary in 2016.

Most Republican primaries dole out delegates proportionately. Trump pulled ahead of the pack in the first 35 contests by taking an average of 31 percent in the caucuses and primaries. Trump was nearly 40 contests in before he won a majority of a race, taking his home state of New York with 60 percent. That night, the AP reported, “Donald Trump is now the only Republican candidate with any chance of clinching the nomination before the convention.”