Arkansas will send just 37 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July, with more than 220 people vying to go.
According to state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb, they have received more than twice as many contenders for those slots as anticipated.
It is part of what he sees as a general rise in excitement about the Republican Party in Arkansas. The state’s March 1st presidential primary this year drew over 400,000 Republican voters. Webb said that’s more than ever.
"We have received applications from individuals who are in their eighties. We have received applications from people who are college students, business people, housewives," he said.
"They don't come from any particular background, and they don't come from any history, particularly, in the Republican Party."
Delegates will be selected between now and May. Sixteen Arkansas delegates will be committed to Donald Trump, 15 will go to Senator Ted Cruz, and 9 are allotted to Senator Marco Rubio, based on primary results.
If the convention is contested in July, delegates will select their own candidates in a second round of voting.
