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Eli Kantor is a labor, employment and immigration law attorney. He has been practicing labor, employment and immigration law for more than 36 years. He has been featured in articles about labor, employment and immigration law in the L.A. Times, Business Week.com and Daily Variety. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Journal. Telephone (310)274-8216; eli@elikantorlaw.com. For more information, visit beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com and and beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com

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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

State GOP leaders plot to tie Donald Trump’s hands

Politico
By Alex Isenstadt
August 24, 2015

Amid mounting concerns about Donald Trump’s candidacy from the GOP establishment, Republican leaders in at least two states have found a way to make life a lot harder for him.

The Virginia and North Carolina parties are in discussions about implementing a new requirement for candidates to qualify for their primary ballots: that they pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee — and not run as a third-party candidate — in the general election.

The procedural moves are clearly aimed at Trump, who pointedly refused to rule out a third-party run during the first GOP debate.

They come amid Republican fears that the real estate mogul is gaining strength in the primary contest, and that his jeremiads against undocumented immigrants will alienate Hispanic voters. Despite coming under a hail of criticism in recent weeks, Trump has held steady atop state and national polls.

John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said the proposal was among many that the organization was considering as it sketches out its ballot access requirements for the 2016 GOP primary. The ultimate decision, he said, would be made by the 84 members who make up the state party’s central committee, which is slated to meet on Sept. 19. The requirements must be submitted to the Republican National Committee by Oct. 1.

If implemented, Whitbeck said, the provision would be similar to ones the party adopted for statewide races held in 2013 and 2014.

“It happens to be one of the things that we are discussing for the 2016 primary,” said Whitbeck, who expressed confidence that Trump would eventually commit to supporting the GOP nominee. He said the aim of the proposal is to unify the party and “isn’t about any single candidate.”

The Virginia proposal has earned the support of Ken Cuccinelli, the state’s former attorney general and 2013 gubernatorial nominee, who has been promoting the idea to members of the state party central committee. He has also been in touch with Whitbeck.

“Anybody who wants to seek the Republican nomination should have to commit to supporting the ultimate Republican nominee,” Cuccinelli said in a Monday interview. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

In North Carolina, Republican Party officials are considering a similar move, and are already in talks with lawyers about how best to implement it.

The topic recently came up during a meeting of state party staffers and is expected to be discussed more extensively on conference calls during the coming weeks. One state party official said a lawyer would soon be drafting language for a provision asking each candidate to support the nominee.

A final decision is expected to be made by the party next month ahead of the Oct 1. deadline.

“Everything is on the table,” the official said.

In both states, organizers said, the goal was the same — to compel Trump, who has cultivated a passionate following of conservative supporters, into offering his full support to the party.

Any moves to tie Trump’s hands, though, could infuriate the mercurial billionaire, who has warned that he could bolt the party if GOP leaders treat him unfairly. A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Those involved in the push said the two states are operating independently of one another, and of the Republican National Committee, which has little say over how state parties determine who gets on their primary ballots. To a large degree, the national party has found its hands tied when it has come to dealing with Trump.


“Ballot access usually is regarded as party function,” said Tom Josefiak, a former RNC chief counsel. “It definitely would be left up to the state party to decide how it’s going to operate.”

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