Lawrence Tabas
| Lawrence Tabas | |
 | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | At-large delegate |
| State: | Pennsylvania |
| Bound to: | Donald Trump |
| Delegates to the RNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Delegates by state | |
| Lawrence Tabas | |
| Basic facts | |
| Current Campaign: | General Counsel, Republican Party of Pennsylvania; |
| Organization: | Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell, and Hippel LLP |
| Role: | Senior Partner |
| Location: | Philadelphia, Pa. |
| Expertise: | Attorney |
| Affiliation: | Republican |
| Education: | •University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1975) •University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1975) •Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1978)[1] |
| Website: | Official website |
Lawrence Tabas was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania.[2] Pennsylvania’s 14 at-large delegates and its three RNC delegates were bound by the results of the state primary election to support Donald Trump at the national convention. As of July 13, 2016, Trump had approximately 1,542 delegates. The winner of the Republican nomination needed the support of 1,237 delegates. Trump formally won the nomination on July 19, 2016. Pennsylvania’s 54 district-level delegates were elected directly by voters in the state primary election as unpledged delegates, meaning they were not bound to vote for any specific candidate at the national convention.
Career
Political career
In 1980, Lawrence Tabas ran as the Republican candidate for the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and, in 1985, ran for city controller of Philadelphia. Tabas ran as the Republican candidate for city council in Philadelphia, in 1991. Tabas was elected in 1997 as a school board director of the Lower Merion School District of Montgomery County.[3] From 1996 to 1997, Tabas was appointed by the governor to the State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators.[1]
Campaign activity
In 1984, Tabas was acting general counsel for Ronald Reagan's (R) presidential campaign's election day program in Philadelphia.[4] He served as counsel to the Tom Corbett for Governor Committee. Tabas was the chairman of the litigation team in Pennsylvania for George W. Bush's (R) 2004 presidential campaign. In 2008, he was the counsel to and the chair of John McCain's (R) presidential campaign's legal team in Pennsylvania. In 2012, he served as presidential candidate Mitt Romney's (R) co-chair for the Pennsylvania legal team.[3] Tabas has also served as counsel for other campaigns, at the national, state, and local levels as well as for super PACs, PACs, and lobbying firms.[4]
Legal career
From 2001 to 2002, Tabas was appointed by the majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to serve as counsel to the Pennsylvania Joint Senate/House Committee on Election Reform.[3] According to his bio, he serves as counsel to the Pennsylvania House Republican Campaign Committee.[3]
Tabas is a senior partner at the law firm Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell, and Hippel LLP in Philadelphia. Tabas serves as the chair for the firm's Health Care Practice Group and is a senior partner of the firm's Bankruptcy and Financial Reorganization Department.[1]
State Republican Party
Tabas is the general counsel of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania's State Committee. In 2008 and 2012, Tabas was a delegate at the Republican National Convention and served on the Rules Committees.[3]
2016 Republican National Convention
Tabas served on the Republican National Convention's Rules Committee. Tabas was one of 19 members that served on the committee in 2012.[5]
RNC Rules Committee
- See also: RNC Rules Committee, 2016
Tabas was a member of the RNC Rules Committee, a 112-member body responsible for crafting the official rules of the Republican Party, including the rules that governed the 2016 Republican National Convention.[6]
Appointment process
The convention Rules Committee in 2016 consisted of one male and one female delegate from each state and territorial delegation. The Rules of the Republican Party required each delegation to elect from its own membership representatives to serve on the Rules Committee.
Delegate rules
At-large delegates from Pennsylvania were selected at the summer meeting of the State Committee on May 21, 2016. They were allocated to the statewide winner of the state primary election. Pennsylvania's 54 congressional district delegates were directly elected on the primary ballot as unbound delegates. They were not required to disclose which candidate they supported at the time of their election.
Pennsylvania primary results
| Pennsylvania Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
 Donald Trump |
56.6% | 902,593 | 17 | |
| Ted Cruz | 21.7% | 345,506 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 19.4% | 310,003 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.6% | 9,577 | 0 | |
| Marco Rubio | 0.7% | 11,954 | 0 | |
| Ben Carson | 0.9% | 14,842 | 0 | |
| Totals | 1,594,475 | 17 | ||
| Source: The New York Times and Pennsylvania Secretary of State | ||||
Delegate allocation
Pennsylvania had 71 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 54 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's 18 congressional districts). According to the Republican National Committee, Pennsylvania's district delegates were "elected on the primary ballot as officially unbound," meaning that these delegates were not required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.[7][8]
Of the remaining 17 delegates, 14 served at large. Pennsylvania's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the plurality winner of the state's primary received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were required to pledge their support to the winner of the state's primary.[7][8]
See also
- Republican National Convention, 2016
- 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules
- RNC delegate guidelines from Pennsylvania, 2016
- Republican delegate rules by state, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 My Owl Space, "Lawrence Tabas Resume, accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ PAGOP, "Asher, Toretti Re-Elected To Republican National Committee At 2016 PA GOP Summer Meeting," May 21, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Obermayer et al, "Lawrence J. Tabas," accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 PA GOP, "Lawrence J. Tabas, Esq.," accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Never Trump movement gets little help from convention rules panel roster," June 23, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's list of 2016 RNC Rules Committee members is based on an official list from the Republican National Committee obtained by Ballotpedia on June 24, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
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