Texas congressman may grab more delegates

Ron Paul did not win a single delegate during Oklahoma's presidential primary, but the Texas congressman's supporters have won a third of the delegates selected so far and hope to add to that tally at next month's state convention.

Paul supporters have won five of the 15 national GOP delegates already selected at Oklahoma's congressional district conventions, Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Gary Jones said. They also won several of the 15 alternates selected at the conventions.

"They appear to be Ron Paul supporters, they haven't publicly said they are,” Jones said.

It's expected Paul's supporters will turn out to add to that count when state Republicans gather May 2-3 in Tulsa to elect 23 at-large delegates and 23 alternates to the national convention, he said.

Oklahoma will send 41 delegates to the National Republican Convention scheduled for September in Minneapolis.

Three are state GOP officials — Jones and the national committeeman and national committeewoman from Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Republican Party rules require that 15 of the state's GOP delegates be awarded to the winning candidate in the state's five congressional districts. The remainder go to whomever wins the most votes in the state.

U.S. Sen. John McCain won the most votes during Oklahoma's presidential primary Feb. 5. McCain, of Arizona, got 37 percent of the vote in Oklahoma, but collected 32 of the delegates.

He got 23 delegates for winning the state and three delegates in each of the three congressional districts he won.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who since has dropped out of the race, finished a close second with 33 percent of the vote. He won several counties and collected six delegates, three each in the two congressional districts he won.

Paul won about 3 percent of the vote and was awarded no delegates. Paul has dropped out of recent primaries, but still is continuing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and is making speeches across the country.

Kirk Shelley, who served as Oklahoma state coordinator for Paul earlier this year, no longer is working for the campaign. A phone number for his successor no longer is in service.