Republican activist tracks delegate count for presidential nomination

Luke Hellier, a Republican strategist and self-described "political nerd," has found a new way to channel his enjoyment of politics: tracking delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Hellier, who lives in Lakeville, initially supported Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign for president, and later supported the candidacy of Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, spends time each week methodically filing in spreadsheet with the number of delegates allocated to the remaining Republican campaigns for president.

As the presidential campaigns of businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Ohio Governor John Kasich fight to win the required vote total of 1,237 to become the Republican nominee for President of the United States at the Republican National Convention, Hellier's spreadsheet gives political junkies and the media a running tally of which campaign has the most delegates.

"The reason I started to track the delegates was because Republicans had 17 candidates running," said Hellier, adding that he "thought it was possible after the first four states [Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada] that different candidates could win the states."

Hellier was right, as Cruz won Iowa and Trump was victorious in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

"Being a political-nerd, I wanted to see where the status of the race and what the delegate math shows," said Hellier, who believes it will be difficult for one of the remaining campaigns to win the necessary 1,237 delegates before the Republican National Convention in July.

In the last few days, Hellier has taken his political geekery to another level, as he has started to track delegate allocations for the Republican Party of Minnesota's endorsement in the Second Congressional District.

His preliminary results shows David Gerson with a lead coming into the endorsing convention in May.

Picture source: Michael Brodkorb