Imagine that you have a significant amount of control over how your state GOP primary is run in 2020, and that the rules are the exact same as they are in 2016. You are tasked with maximizing your state's importance in the 2020 primaries. For simplicity's sake, assume that every state other than your own holds their primary on the same day as in 2016 (it's equivalent date in 2020, anyhow). You can also assume that Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada are the first four states. What sort of primary system should you choose?
1) primary or caucus?
1a) open or closed?
2) proportional representation, winner-take-all, or winner-take-most? some other creative system of allocation?
2a) if winner-take-most, how would you assign your delegates?
PS: If you have the stomach to decipher the GOP's byzantine delegate allocation rules, you can read through them here: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P16/R-Alloc.phtml.
3) what minimum threshold for viability?
4) will you have any loophole primary system like Pennsylvania, or whatever the hell North Dakota did?
5) what date? Recall that any primaries before March 15th had to be proportional.
Additional questions: How does your state's composition of GOP voters affect your calculus? e.g. if you are Alabama vs. Idaho vs. Connecticut, how does that affect your choices above? It may be best to focus on a single state for this scenario.
1. Open Primary
2. Winner-take-most. 5% of delegates go to the winner, 45% of delegates are proportional statewide, 40% of delegates proportional in congressional districts(~4% in a district), 10% is divided proportionally to the winners of each district.
3. 10%
4. I'd consider a certain portion of unpledged delegates picked by the State Chair and approved by the members of the Executive Committee.
5. March 25
The more right-leaning the primary group, the more unpledged delegates under Answer 4.
