When does Romney offically pass 1,144 delegates?

[jmc247]

First when does he pass 1,144 in the news media's count of the delegates which includes Superdelegates who have endorsed Romney and unbound delegates who endorsed him.

Second in the offical RNC count which doesn't include a number of things like nonbinding states.

This question has come up before, but with Santorum out of the race its a very different equation.

[jmc247]

ABC News weighs in.

Santorum's decision on Tuesday closed that window, although Newt Gingrich has vowed to stay in the race until the convention.

Romney still has to win an additional 483 delegates before he can technically claim the title of the 2012 Republican Presidential candidate.

So, how long until Romney reaches that point?

There's still a little more than month to go until the Romney campaign gets to that critical number. Mathematically, it can't happen until the end of May.

The next slate of primaries are scheduled for April 24th, when a total of 231 delegates will be up for grabs across five states. After that, the primary schedule picks up again, with Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia holding their primaries on May 8th, followed by Oregon and Nebraska on the 15th, and Arkansas and Kentucky on the 22nd.

A total of 507 delegates will be at stake in those 12 contests.

With Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul still in the race, it's possible- even likely- that Romney will not win 100 percent of those 507 delegates. Gingrich has a solid chance of picking up a couple delegates in states like North Carolina, West Virginia and Arkansas.

Still- assuming that Gingrich and Paul don't experience a huge surge of momentum in the wake of Santorum's departure, Romney looks well poised to clinch the nomination by the end of May.

If he doesn't get there by the 22nd, Romney will almost certainly reached 1,144 by the 29th, when Texas holds their primary with 155 delegates at stake.

http://abcnews.go.com/m/blogEntry?id=16111430

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

May-June.

[jmc247]

I have been looking at the numbers and all Newt needs to do is 20-30% in many of these southern states and Western states and he can surpass Santorum's delegate haul. I suspect Santorum does not want that to happen and the best way to stop it is by releasing his delegates after endorsing Romney.

Romney picks up about 200 extra delegates fast and the primary ends on May 8th after West Virginia, NC, and Indiana vote.