April 8-9, 2016* CO Cong. Assemblies and State Convention

OVERVIEW
Although Colorado's delegate selection process seemed a bit convoluted, it was a pretty straightforward sequence of precinct caucuses, county assemblies, multi-county/congressional assemblies and a state convention (see FAQ*). 

In Aug. 2015 the Colorado Republican Party executive committee voted to eliminate the straw poll at the March 1 precinct caucuses.  This meant that on the evening of March 1 there was nothing to report in the way of presidential results, although the caucuses happened and carried out their normal business; the state party notes that over 60,000 Colorado Republicans showed up in over 2,000 precincts around the state. 

The next step, county assemblies, occurred throughout March, attracting little attention.

The spotlight turned on Colorado Republicans for the multi-county/congressional assemblies which selected 21 congressional district delegates (three per district).  Two of these assemblies were held on April 2, one on April 7, and the other four on April 8 in conjunction with the state convention in Colorado Springs.  At the state convention some 600 people vied for the 13 at-large delegate positions.  The outcome of these gatherings was a decisive win for Cruz, who spoke at the convention on April 9. 

REACTIONS
Cruz for President
April 9, 2016

Cruz Wins Colorado
Cruz Campaign Sweeps All 34 Delegates, Has Now Beaten Trump Four Times in a Row

HOUSTON, Texas – After a sweeping victory in Colorado, Presidential candidate Ted Cruz issued the following statement:
 
“Today was another resounding victory for conservatives, Republicans, and Americans who care about the future of our country. Utah, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and tonight’s incredible results in Colorado have proven this: Republicans are uniting behind our campaign because they want a leader with real solutions who will bring back jobs, freedom, and security.
 
“This election is about the hope that our children can still have a more promising landscape of opportunity than generations past. It’s about bringing together Americans from all backgrounds who know that we will be stronger, more prosperous, and infinitely more free if we return power in Washington back to the people. So that Americans are free to create better jobs, live and worship freely, and once again proudly defend ‘the last best hope of earth.’
 
“Thank you, Colorado, and we ask moms and dads, students and retirees across this country to join us so that together we make this election a turning point for the nation.”
 

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April 10, 2016 Tweet from Donald J.  Trump
@realDonaldTrump

The people of Colorado had their vote taken away from them by the phony politicians. Biggest story in politics. This will not be allowed!

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April 12, 2016 Facebook post by CO GOP Chair Steve House

How did Ted Cruz win 30 pledged delegates in Colorado without "corruption" or the election being "rigged" or without "stealing votes" from the voters. I get this question several dozen times a day from disbelievers who think some how I was biased. The answer is simple math and a good strategy. This is an unbiased math/strategy view not intended to be critical of anyone. I am just answering the questions for many who either think I cheated or I am some kind of scum bag.

Simple Math: In our congressional district assemblies you have to elect three delegates. Let's say for example that in a given congressional district Cruz had a 51 to 49% advantage in delegates that supported him. Because we allow delegates to vote for 3 delegates, not just one, the majority can never be beaten unless it makes a mistake. Think of it as 3 separate delegate elections because each voter can vote three times(6 when you include alternates). In election 1 your majority out votes the minority to pick the candidate you want. Same in election 2 and 3. So how does the minority win a delegate? The majority makes a mistake and disperses their vote across to many delegate candidates while the minority focuses on just one two or three.

Strategy:
The Cruz campaign did a great job of keeping their voters focused on a very small slate of people. Evidence of this is the number of votes they got for their pledged delegates in each race and the number of non Cruz, either un-pledged or Trump alternates, elected in the CD and state races. The Cruz team did not put slates of 6 delegates up in a CD which would have allowed, 3 delegates and 3 alternates, they put up only 3 on a slate to focus the votes and win and they did and lost a fair number of alternates (14 of 34) to Trump and Unpledged.

In the state assembly you also do the same thing although it is harder because you have more delegates. It still came down to 13 separate elections because the voters could vote for all 13(technically they can vote for 26 to include alternates but let's stay on just the delegates). I believe their were more Cruz supporters at the state assembly then there were Trump supporters and the margin was probably 5-10%(majority rules anytime it stays focused). If you look at the vote totals for the delegates who won they are all over 1,500 votes and even the first 3 alternates are Cruz pledged and over 1,500. From there it drops dramatically in total votes per alternate to around 500. How does this happen? Focus on a slate of 13, put it on a bright orange T-Shirt, text the numbers to all your supporters and you win.

Knowing the rules and focusing on just the delegate races and not the alternates was the key to victory. There were 40 pledged Trump delegates who got votes exceeding 90 apiece with the highest being 493 - Patrick Davis. The total is well over 5000 votes. Focus on 3 or 4 instead of being so dispersed over 40 delegate candidates and Mr. Trump wins 3 or 4 delegates. Ted Cruz delegates got 28,000 votes in the top 16. Focus. Similar strategy could have been deployed in the CD's.

Lastly others have yelled it me because they believe a state wide straw poll, which would have involved maybe 80,000 people, would have allocated out delegates proportionally statewide. It doesn't work that way. The CD formulas and overall at large delegates are still allocated the same way. It is still 8 different elections.

Let me know if you have questions or I am missing something.

DELEGATES
National delegate allocation:  Cruz 34.  (+)