Michael Toner Discusses Grassroots Politics Leading Up To GOP Convention

April 21, 2016

Michael E. Toner, co-chair of Wiley Rein’s Election Law & Government Ethics Practice, was quoted in an article published yesterday in The Los Angeles Times on the squabbles and snafus in political parties that often go unnoticed.

But with a contested Republican National Convention a possibility, grassroots maneuvering has become even more important and has been thrust into the spotlight.

“So much of this work—whether we’re talking about county conventions or state conventions—the lifeblood is volunteers and activists,” Mr. Toner said. “Sometimes they get along, sometimes they don’t. The difference here is they're doing very important work that could impact a national election.”

According to the article, one example is when Republican front-runner Donald Trump criticized the Colorado Republican Party’s delegate picking process. Each campaign is now focused on party slip-ups that could be used to challenge delegate counts during the July convention.

“There is a process for bringing that challenge and having it heard before the national convention,” Mr. Toner added. “I think we’re going to see more of that than we have in the past.”

To read the full article, please click here.