W.Va. GOP Convention Hits Delegate Deadline

With an unknown number of filings likely still in the mail, state Republican Party officials are counting 1,175 delegates signed up for the "Tsunami Tuesday" Presidential Convention Feb. 5.

The latest breakdown*:


The deadline was Friday, though filings postmarked by midnight Nov. 30 will be counted. The convention envisions 1,446 delegates.

The latest roster is online.

The Associated Press has details. Among some of the highlights:

• Convention planners set aside 610 seats for at-large delegates, but 707 signed up. As a result, 16 counties have enough candidates for contests during the election slated for January;

• Only four counties failed to field any delegates - McDowell, Mingo, Tyler and Wyoming counties. Though the others are dominated by Democrats, Tyler is actually one of nine W.Va. counties where registered Republicans hold the majority;

• All but four of the Legislature's 39 GOP members signed up for their automatic convention berths: Troy Andes of Putnam County, Allen Evans of Grant County, Mike Porter of Mercer County and Roger Romine of Tyler County;

• The uncommitted delegates account for about 45 percent of the total;

• Mike Huckabee perhaps saw the biggest boost among the White House hopefuls during the final surge of filings, with 113 at-large delegates now pledged to him;

• Ron Paul continues to have the most at-large delegates, with 125;

• Mitt Romney appears to have the most delegates from the state GOP's executive committee (14).

(* I missed a name among the Romney delegates in my initial post. I've corrected the above roster and his number of state party committee members.)