Gingrich Needs Five Wins to be Eligible on Convention's First Round

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich may be ineligible for the first round of voting at the national convention if he fails to win five primaries or caucuses. That doesn’t mean he can’t be the nominee, but it makes what was already an uphill battle even steeper, ABC News reports.

A GOP rule for the convention states that “each candidate for nomination for president of the United States and vice president of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination.”

So far, Gingrich has only two wins: South Carolina and Georgia. And the odds of getting one more victory, let alone three more, are long.

The rule, however, would only make Gingrich ineligible for the first ballot.

After the first round, the nomination process essentially starts over, and any delegate can make a motion to nominate a candidate who did not qualify on previous rounds, ABC News reports. And many delegates may change their choice of candidate, and any candidate could qualify by showing plurality support from delegates of five states.

Gingrich wouldn’t have to actually win five primaries or caucuses to demonstrate support from five states, ABC News says. No delegates from Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming, Maine, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Montana are bound to their state results, meaning they can support whomever they choose — including Gingrich.