The band of Republican delegates and conservative activists looking to block Donald Trump from securing the Republican presidential nomination in Cleveland is racing against the clock to build up a campaign organization without the candidate.
Kendal Unruh, a Colorado delegate leading the “Free the Delegates” drive against Trump, said Sunday evening that she was coordinating delegate whips to ensure they have the votes needed in Cleveland and was searching for parliamentarians who could help with breakneck maneuvering that she expects from the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign to stop their effort.
Unruh, who spoke on a national strategy call with other supporters of “freeing” the Republican delegates to vote against Trump in Cleveland, said she did not want to divulge all of her plans. CNN was invited onto the call along with other reporters — something that supporters announced on the call Sunday.
Steve Lonegan, a former candidate for Senate from New Jersey and leader of the anti-Trump Courageous Conservatives PAC, said he was searching for field directors to reach out directly to all 2,472 Republican delegates, using a list his team built. He also said they were sending their own operation to Cleveland now.
“Our advance team is heading out to Cleveland this week to build our command headquarters for our movement outside the convention center so we can operate our whip program within the convention, those who are going to be leading the effort to support, morally, and encourage delegates to vote their conscience,” Lonegan said.
The insurgence has been fueled by continued anguish over Trump. And it was sparked by an argument from veteran RNC Committeeman Curly Haugland that Republican delegates are not bound to Trump or any other candidate until the RNC approves rules mandating that in Cleveland.
That key distinction — that rules have not yet been set for the Republican convention — is at the center of this newest anti-Trump effort, which would let delegates cite a conscientious or moral objection to vote against Trump.
Unruh circulated a draft of the change Friday and has been working on the other 111 members of the rules committee — but she said she has been met with some fear of retribution from Trump and the RNC against delegates who support the effort.
In response, the Trump campaign re-activated its Republican delegate whipping operation and the RNC leadership has been fighting to keep delegates from revolting in Cleveland, with the convention starting just three weeks from now.
The anti-Trump delegates face a clear uphill battle — winning over at least 57 members of the convention Rules Committee and, then, at least 1,237 delegates in the convention. An alternative route would require the support of only 28 Rules Committee members, but require the support of 1,656 delegates in the convention itself.
They also have been fighting against a perception that they are just disgruntled Ted Cruz supporters, one reason why they invited James Lamb, a Marco Rubio fundraiser and former New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey, a former John Kasich surrogate, to Sunday’s call.
“I just want to reassure everyone or reinforce in their belief that Donald Trump is just about the worse candidate you could think of for the country first and for the party second and all of its candidates down to the state and local level,” Humphrey said Sunday.