Michael Brodkorb: Minnesota Republicans lose rules fight over '16 RNC

The Republican National Committee has denied a request by the Republican Party of Minnesota for a waiver from rules governing the 2016 Republican National Convention which would bind Minnesota delegates to support the winners of the presidential preference ballot at Republican precinct caucuses.

All delegates from Minnesota to the Republican National Convention in 2016 will be elected proportionately and bound to the winners of the presidential preference ballot at Republican precinct caucuses on March 1, 2016.

Rule changes made at the 2012 Republican National Convention and later amended by the RNC, require that the results of the presidential preference ballot at Republican precinct caucuses "must be used to allocate and bind the state's delegation to the national convention in either a proportional or winner-take-all manner."

As detailed in a previous post, Minnesota delegates to the Republican National Convention have not been bound by the results of the presidential preference ballot conducted at precinct caucuses. In 2012, Rick Santorum won the presidential preference ballot in Minnesota, but the majority of the Minnesota delegates to the Republican National Convention supported Ron Paul.

The bulk of the Minnesota delegates to the Democratic National Convention are required to support the winner of the presidential preference ballot conducted at Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party precinct caucuses. The Democratic National Convention in 2016 will be held in Philadelphia (Wells Fargo Center and Pennsylvania Convention Center) and Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena) will host the Republican National Convention.

Picture source: Quicken Loans Arena