Of the 63 unbound delegates who have already been named, 26 have told TIME or other news outlets that they are either committed to support Cruz, lean towards supporting Cruz or refuse to support Trump on the first ballot. By contrast Trump has the public support of only one delegate in North Dakota. Another delegate in American Samoa is Trump’s local campaign chair, but he declined to confirm to TIME that he will support Trump on the first ballot. Fifteen others declined to tell TIME their preference, and 15 more could not be reached for comment.
There are also five named unbound delegates from the Virgin Islands whose fate is unknown because they are in the midst of a legal battle over whether they will be able to vote at the convention. The Virgin Islands’ Republican Party chair, John Canegata, is fighting to have the original slate replaced by a different group.
The relatively few unbound delegates could become the most important Republicans in the nation if Trump arrives at the convention just short of the 1,237 bound delegates he needs to lock up the nomination on the first ballot.
