I know, this seems like it can't happen because it's just not something that ever takes place. However, it can actually happen now and it's thanks to the RNC.
Look up Rule 40 in the RNC handbook, or you can just click here for a direct link to it.
They were in such a snit after 2012 the RNC changed the rules in an attempt to control the nomination process and give them more time to raise funds for their candidate. It was hubris at it's finest, and as such things tend to do, it could come back and bite them in their collective arses.
Here's an article written after the changes, but still from back in 2014. Long before the field became what it is for them currently.
Officially, it’s Rule 40 in the RNC handbook and it states that any candidate for president “shall demonstrate the support of a majority of the delegates from each of eight (8) or more states” before their name is presented for nomination at the national convention.
In a scenario with a commanding front-runner, this doesn’t seem like a high threshold to cross. But with the absence of an heir apparent standard-bearer and the most wide open nomination battle in decades looming, some RNC members think Rule 40 could crack open the door to the possibility of a convention floor fight. The theory: If no one candidate has secured eight states, it invites a free-for-all without a reason to get out. Conversely, if multiple candidates garner eight victories and accrue hundreds of delegates, each could claim a right to soldier on. For instance, it isn't inconceivable to think that Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., could dominate the Northeast, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. performing well in the South and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc,, racking up victories in the Midwest.
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Officially, it’s Rule 40 in the RNC handbook and it states that any candidate for president “shall demonstrate the support of a majority of the delegates from each of eight (8) or more states” before their name is presented for nomination at the national convention.
In a scenario with a commanding front-runner, this doesn’t seem like a high threshold to cross. But with the absence of an heir apparent standard-bearer and the most wide open nomination battle in decades looming, some RNC members think Rule 40 could crack open the door to the possibility of a convention floor fight. The theory: If no one candidate has secured eight states, it invites a free-for-all without a reason to get out. Conversely, if multiple candidates garner eight victories and accrue hundreds of delegates, each could claim a right to soldier on. For instance, it isn't inconceivable to think that Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., could dominate the Northeast, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. performing well in the South and Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc,, racking up victories in the Midwest.
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But Haugland, wielding the 2012 rule book in his hand, merely refers back to the RNC’s own rules, created and ratified by its own membership to defend his game-changing assertions.
“The RNC has no option except to follow these rules, until they convene in 2016,” he says.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/03/11/a-brokered-gop-convention-in-2016This one is more current, from September of this year.
Republican leaders and strategists said that rather than having a presumptive nominee by early 2016, who could turn to the tasks of raising money and making the case against the Democratic candidates, it was doubtful that a candidate would be in place before late spring — or even before Republicans gather for their convention in Cleveland in July.
And they said they were increasingly convinced that Donald Trump could exploit openings created by the party’s revised rules to capture the nomination or, short of that, to amass enough delegates to be a power broker at the convention.
“You’ve got a set of unintended consequences that weren’t planned for,” said Richard F. Hohlt, a Republican donor and Washington lobbyist. “So it’s going to be harder for a candidate to get to the magic number, which could open up the process to a convention situation.”
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But the evolving Republican landscape also suggests that the party’s changes, such as squeezing primaries into a shorter period in hopes that one candidate would break through, are proving no match for a field this big and rambunctious, powered by the forces of populism and anger at Washington and financed by wealthy benefactors.
As a result, the campaigns are preparing for a marathon delegate battle, and have begun building organizations in territories as far-flung as Guam and American Samoa. An adviser to Cruz’s campaign, Dennis Lennox, has island-hopped through the Pacific this month, discussing local issues like the airfares between Honolulu and Pago Pago, in search of a stray delegate who might support the senator. And on a conference call with donors the morning after Wednesday’s debate, Danny Diaz, the manager for Bush’s campaign, ran down its operations in states well beyond New Hampshire and Iowa, according to a participant on the call.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/09/19/new-party-rules-fail-speed-republican-race/QvSl5WPOyvYB0XABUX4HkO/story.htmlBasically, they have potentially over estimated their ability to wrangle in their extremist supporters, once again. Unless Trump, or some other GOP candidate can cleanly hold a majority in at least eight states, there's a strong potential for a blowup at the convention.
Will it happen? I have no idea, but it's actually a real possibility at this point.
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