RNC Rules Committee Strongly Defeats Efforts Of Cruz Loyalists

Gary Jones of Oklahoma leaves the Rules Committee after a long night of battle. Morton Blackwell of Virginia is standing just behind him.

  In a very long and heated day of postponed meetings, backroom marathon negotiations and a late night session to hear endless amendments; The Cruz loyalists could only muster little more than a 20 supporters to change the practice of binding of Republican delegates, and the Romney Rules of 2012.
  The leaders of the opposition seem to be from North Dakota, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Cruz handily won those states. Morton Blackwell of Virginia was also a strong supporter of reforms to limit the RNC Chair's powers. Senator Mike Lee of Utah was also a supporter of changing the Romney Rules.
 Follow today's Rules battle & backroom negotiations at the following links:

• The Hill
• Politico

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  The effort to loose the delegates was presented in Amendment 38. Previously, Amendment 37 passed on a vote of 85-14. Oklahoma's 2 delegates supported Amendment 37, which affirms the mandates that delegates be bound in their state party certifies them as bound.

The convention rules committee met late into the night, Thursday.

Megan Winburn & Gary Jones are Oklahoma's 2 delegates to the Rules Committee, in Cleveland

Both Jones & Winburn voted to mandate the binding of delegates to the candidate who was awarded their support in the state contest.