Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said Monday he is "increasingly optimistic" this summer's Republican National Convention will be contested, which would open the door for someone other than Donald Trump to get the presidential nomination.
"It is important for everybody to understand that the convention rules will require you to get 1,237 delegate votes, and until one gets to 1,237, they will not be the nominee," McConnell said during an
interview with WHAS11.
"So there are some candidates suggesting it's somehow tricky to simply follow the rules of the convention. We are going to follow the rules of the convention."
McConnell pointed out that roughly 60 percent of the delegates from the first ballot would be allowed to vote for a different candidate on a second ballot, and 80 percent from the first and second ballots would be unbound for a third ballot.
McConnell would not comment on individual candidates within the Republican race, but he did add, "I am increasingly optimistic that there actually may be a second ballot."
Real estate mogul Donald Trump is currently leading the GOP race for the presidential nomination with 744 delegate votes, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (559) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (144).
McConnell told Trump in March he should "condemn" the violence that has plagued Trump's campaign rallies.
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