Florida and California GOP deny allegations of anti-Trump bias.

Some supporters of former President Donald Trump are concerned that GOP rule changes in a pair of key states may hurt his bid to become the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee.

The changes also could help his second-place challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, gain ground, Mr. Trump’s allies allege.

But Republican leaders in the two states, California and Florida, deny ulterior motives.

In interviews with The Epoch Times, they provided justifications for the changes. They also opined that controversies, which erupted recently, are overblown.

Still, some critics remain skeptical of the explanations offered, and they say they are remaining vigilant because of what happened at the 2016 Republican National Convention. “Never Trumpers” tried, but failed, to change a rule “binding” votes of delegates from states where Mr. Trump won the primary election.

Mr. Trump went on to win the nomination—and the presidency—that year. He served as president from 2017 until early 2021. Mr. Trump left the White House after unsuccessful attempts to contest Democrat Joe Biden’s election in 2020.

Challenges Stack Up

Now, as Mr. Trump strives to become the GOP’s nominee for the third time, he is the frontrunner thus far. But this time, he faces additional obstacles. Mr. Trump is trying to fend off more than a dozen Republican challengers, fighting two unprecedented criminal cases, and seeking to unseat Biden.

In light of the challenges stacked against the former president, Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Mr. Trump, railed against the rule changes.

“You look at what he’s dealing with. He doesn’t have time for this minutia,” Mr. Bannon said during a July 7 episode of the “Bannon’s War Room” podcast. But Mr. Bannon said what happens with the rules is “very important.”

Steve Bannon in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Sept. 18, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

In California, a proposed amendment to the state party’s bylaws would change the way the state’s delegates are assigned to candidates at the GOP’s national convention in July 2024.

If the amendment is approved, the state would change from a “winner-take-all” system to a “proportional” one. That method calls for delegates to be awarded to candidates based on the percentages of primary votes cast for the top vote-getters.

In Florida, a rule has already been approved that requires presidential hopefuls to sign a “loyalty pledge” vowing to support whoever wins the national party’s nomination. Failure to sign the pledge prevents the candidate’s name from appearing on Florida’s primary election ballot.

Concerns Cause Stir

Outspoken Trump supporter Laura Loomer brought concerns to light about these rule changes in a series of Twitter posts.

Then Mr. Bannon invited Ms. Loomer to discuss the changes on his podcast. During that July 7 episode, she told Mr. Bannon that the former president’s adversaries are “trying to use the 2016 ‘playbook’ as a repeat—to undermine the 2024 election, steal delegates from Donald Trump and steal the nomination through last-minute rules changes.”

In response to Ms. Loomer’s statements, many online commenters expressed disgust with the rule revisions.

But Republican party leaders from both California and Florida dismissed any suggestion that the changes were motivated by anti-Trump bias.

In a July 11 email interview with The Epoch Times, California GOP (CAGOP) Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director Bryan Watkins said: “These allegations are dead wrong, and it’s a shame that the allegations were fueled by so much misinformation online.

“The California Republican Party’s role is to hold a fair and impartial primary process for all candidates competing in California.”

Winner Take All—Or Not?

A Twitter post from Ms. Loomer had stoked concerns about California’s proposed rule change early on July 4.

Late that day, attorney Harmeet Dhillon, an RNC national committeewoman representing California, wrote on Twitter that the rule adjustment was “legally necessary.”

Without naming Loomer or other detractors, Ms. Dhillon’s tweet said: “I see there is some fake news being spread about changes to @CAGOP bylaws.”

Factors outside the CAGOP’s control triggered the change, Ms. Dhillon and others said.

California Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon—here at the 2020 CPAC Convention in National Harbor, Md.—will co-chair the new 12-member Republican Party Advisory Council. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

“The Democrat governor changed the primary [election] date” from June to March, Ms. Dhillon wrote. That shift in the primary’s date activated a Republican National Committee (RNC) requirement.

The RNC’s Rule 16 says states that hold primary elections before March 15 must assign delegates proportionally.

The rule is apparently designed to prevent too many states from shifting their primaries to earlier dates. As more states set early primaries, the greater the chances that the race will be decided more quickly. If one candidate emerges too soon as the clear winner, later primaries in other states become largely moot.

The consequences of violating the rule are explicit. The RNC says it will penalize each noncompliant state by cutting its number of delegates in half.

California Carries Clout

Assuming compliance with the rules, California would be entitled to send an estimated 169 delegates to the July 2024 RNC convention, more than any other U.S. state, according to Ballotpedia.

Therefore, Mr. Watkins told The Epoch Times, the proposed amendment to the CAGOP’s bylaws “would not only put us in compliance with RNC rules … but it also creates a level playing field for candidates coming to our state and making their case to Republican voters.”

Mr. Watkins added: “If the bylaws do not change, California Republicans will lose half our delegates, no longer have the most of any state in the nation, diminish California’s role in helping to pick the Republican Party’s nominee and belittle the voices of California Republican voters. It’s as simple as that.”

California and at least 11 other states will hold their Republican primaries on March 5, 2024.

Under RNC rules, each state must meet an Oct. 1 deadline to decide how it chooses, allocates and “binds” delegates for the 2024 election cycle.

A woman walks past the elephant logo of the Republican Party on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18, 2016. (Dominick Reuter/AFP via Getty Images)

In a July 5 tweet signed by Dhillon and two other California Republican officials, the CAGOP wrote that the winner-take-all provision for California was allowed to remain in effect for the 2020 contest, when the Golden State’s primary was held on March 3.

That was the first year that the California primary shifted from June to March. But, the CAGOP tweet said, “the rules we had in 2020 had a sunset clause,” which permitted their use solely for that year’s primary.

The CAGOP points out that the 2020 rules expired more than two years ago.

Ms. Loomer and others were skeptical of the CAGOP’s explanations.

Although Ms. Loomer accused the CAGOP of acting secretively, Mr. Watkins said that the party was following its standard procedure for introducing amendments to bylaws.

The proposed amendment is now headed for the CAGOP’s rules committee, followed by a vote of 100 delegates on the organization’s executive committee on July 29, Mr. Watkins said.

Intent Versus Result

Regardless of the impetus for the proposed California change, it stands to benefit Mr. DeSantis, pollster Richard Baris told “Human Events” podcaster Jack Posobiec on July 5.

Months ago, Mr. DeSantis appeared to have plenty of allies in California and a decent chance of beating Trump there, Mr. Baris said. But based on current polling, “the bottom line is that Trump is expected to sweep almost every state on March 5,” including California, Mr. Baris said.

Distributing delegates proportionally could help keep Mr. DeSantis’ candidacy alive past that date, Mr. Baris said.

“I can’t speak to the motivations here … I’m just telling you what the impact is. And if you are someone who supports DeSantis, you like this rule change, without a doubt,” Mr. Baris said.

The California State flag on Aug. 25, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The Epoch Times sought comment from DeSantis campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin but received no reply before publication time.

Even if the rule change benefits Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Trump’s advocates remain confident that he will leap over any additional hurdles it creates for him.

“To win the nomination, you need to win states. Donald Trump is winning every primary state, including California, where he holds a 30-point lead. Whether it’s proportional delegates or winner-takes-all in California, Donald Trump will win the state and be our next Republican nominee,” Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Make America Great Again Inc., a political fundraising committee, told The Epoch Times via email.

Florida GOP Chair Responds

As for the Florida rule change, Ms. Loomer told Mr. Bannon that it shows “the Florida GOP is rigging this election for Ron DeSantis.”

Florida’s Republican chairman Christian Ziegler, in an interview with The Epoch Times on July 11, cited multiple reasons to dispute that claim.

He pointed to his own past hard work for Mr. Trump as well as for Mr. DeSantis.

“It’s hard to find anyone who worked for both men as aggressively in the state of Florida as I did,” Mr. Ziegler said.

He also said his job is to remain neutral until a nominee is selected at the national convention.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on May 13, 2023. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The state party’s executive board, which has about 40 members, discussed the loyalty pledge in March and April, then voted to approve it in May. No voices were raised against it, Mr. Ziegler said.

Supporters of the pledge included people who back Mr. Trump’s candidacy, he said, and some people have interpreted the pledge as an indicator of Mr. Trump’s influence over the party in Florida.

However, Ms. Loomer and others characterized the loyalty pledge as an attempt to undermine Mr. Trump or back him into a corner. Ever since his initial presidential run began in 2015, Mr. Trump has avoided promising to support the GOP’s eventual nominee if he were to lose.

Yet Mr. Ziegler said the loyalty pledge issue surfaced in response to rumblings that explicitly anti-Trump candidates, such as former GOP congress members Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger, might seek the party’s nomination.

But that didn’t happen. Mr. Kinzinger, from Illinois, chose not to run for reelection, and Ms. Cheney lost the 2022 Wyoming primary to a GOP challenger whom Mr. Trump backed, Harriet Hageman.

No Pledge, No Debate

Earlier this year, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel declared that all GOP presidential candidates must pledge loyalty to the winning nominee, or be denied the chance to participate in televised Republican candidate debates.

The first GOP debate is set for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the RNC convention will be held next year.

Mr. Trump has so far refused to take the pledge. He says he doesn’t want to participate anyhow. As the runaway leader in polling so far, Mr. Trump has said he feels he has nothing to gain by participating with long-shot challengers.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has decided against holding presidential debates, thus shielding Mr. Biden from his challengers’ direct attacks.

Republican presidential candidates (L-R) John Kasich (L), Jeb Bush (2L), Marco Rubio (3L), Donald Trump (4L), Ben Carson(4R), Ted Cruz (3R), Carly Fiorina (2R), and Rand Paul (R) take the stage before the Republican presidential debate at the Milwaukee Theatre, on Nov. 10, 2015, in Milwaukee. (Jeffrey Phelps/AP Photo)

Mr. Ziegler said he supported the Florida loyalty pledge for presidential candidates because it duplicates the RNC’s verbiage; he and all the state party leaders sign a similar pledge, he said.

The pledge, however, wasn’t a huge priority for him.

Rather, a major goal was ensuring that the Florida primary remained under the winner-take-all delegate system.

The nomination process may be effectively decided by “Super Tuesday,” on March 5, he said. But if it’s not, Florida’s primary, set for March 19, 2024, “will pack the biggest punch,” Mr. Ziegler said.

“It puts us in the spotlight. It’s incredibly relevant. As party chair, I want Florida to be as respected as I can make it.”

Eye on November Prize

The Sunshine State is entitled to bring 125 delegates to the national party convention, the nation’s third-highest Republican delegation count. Texas comes in second place with 162 delegates, just seven fewer delegates than fir