From Las Vegas, Nevada
While New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) were trying to boost their fortunes at this week's Republican debate, their political organizations were again falling short in the work to submit full delegate slates for GOP primary contests in 2016, this time in a state that is often key to the election for President.
"Chris Christie fails to file full delegate slate in Ohio," read the headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, as Christie was able to qualify for no more than 35 of a possible 48 delegates in the Buckeye State.
Rand Paul's delegate numbers were actually worse, as Paul managed to cobble together a slate of 34 delegates.
The Dayton Daily News reported that full slates of delegates were filed in Ohio by Gov. John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump, but not by Christie, Paul, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and Lindsey Graham.
The delegate shortfall in Ohio for Christie and Paul was not a one time event, as both GOP candidates failed earlier this month in Tennessee to put together a full slate, while the top contenders in the Republican race did that easily.
Here are the delegate numbers filed by each candidate in the Volunteer State as provided by the Tennessee Secretary of State (55 maximum):
Trump - 55
Rubio - 55
Carson - 55
Cruz - 55
Bush - 52
Huckabee - 39
Kasich - 25
Paul - 23
Santorum - 16
Fiorina - 10
Christie - 5
While Paul didn't get a half-full slate of delegates in Tennessee - 23 of 55 - it was certainly much better than Christie, who had only five.
Back in November, Christie failed to sign up any delegates for the primary in Alabama, where 47 delegates will be at stake on March 1.
In Alabama, Paul did much better, just falling short of the 47 delegate mark.
This is what many often refer to as the "Invisible Primary" - important work that goes on behind the scenes, and often gives clues as to the relative health of a campaign for President.
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