Judge Rules in Favor of 'Never Trump' Delegate

Virginia can't force him to vote against his conscience
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2016 1:24 AM CDT
Updated Jul 12, 2016 6:47 AM CDT
Judge Rules in Favor of 'Never Trump' Delegate
Carroll Correll talks with the media in front of federal court in Richmond, Va.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

A GOP delegate from Virginia who says his conscience won't let him vote for Donald Trump scored a big victory in federal court Monday. The judge ruled that Virginia can't force Carroll Correll Jr. to vote for Trump because a state law requiring Republican National Committee delegates to back the primary winner imposes a "severe burden" on First Amendment rights, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Trump campaign was "morbidly humiliated" by the result, Correll, a Ted Cruz supporter, tells NBC News. "They put all their chips on the table and they lost all of them—if I were them I'd go hide in a closet in Trump Tower," he says.

Correll urged national political figures still on the fence about Trump to "take a step forward from the darkness and into the light" and "deliver this Republic from the abomination of a Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency." The judge's decision, however, did not address state party or RNC rules, which the party says take precedence over state laws, the Journal notes. The RNC's Rules Committee meets later this week, and if at least 28 of 112 delegates on the committee support unbinding delegates from primary winners, the question will be put to all 2,472 delegates at the convention next week, giving the "Never Trump" movement a final shot at installing another nominee. (Anti-Trump GOPers are also working on a plan to choose his running mate.)

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