CLEVELAND—Republicans officially chose Donald Trump as their nominee for president Tuesday night, capping a wild ride from long-shot candidate to the top of the GOP.
Despite some rumblings that supporters of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would attempt to nominate him in an effort to stall the process, the roll call went off without a hitch. Trump secured the 1257 delegates necessary shortly after 7 p.m.
New York secured the nomination for Trump, a Queens native, as his son Donald Trump Jr. officially read the votes.
“It is my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight,” he said. “Congratulations, Dad, we love you!”
While Trump won’t formally accept the nomination until Thursday, the arena still burst into celebration. Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” played over the loudspeakers, as spotlights splashed over the convention floor.
Wisconsin announced its votes per the results of the April 5 primary, casting 36 delegates for Cruz and six delegates for Trump. State Republican Party Chair Brad Courtney and Gov. Scott Walker shared the honor of reading the role, as well as touting the state’s importance to national politics, the Green Bay Packers and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
House Speaker Paul Ryan took the stage to formally nominate Trump and then later to address the convention. He focused on the larger differences between parties, only mentioning Trump twice by name.
“Yet we know better than to think that Republicans can win only on the failures of Democrats,” Ryan said. “It still comes down to the contest of ideas. Which is really good news, ladies and gentlemen, because when it’s about ideas, the advantage goes to us … the Republican Party stands as the great, enduring alternative.”
He also talked of unity, insisting that rallying as a party was the only way to win the White House and preserve Republican majorities in Congress.
“We can do this, we can earn that mandate, if we don’t hold anything back, if we never lose sight of the stakes,” Ryan said to a raucous response. “Our candidates will be giving their all, their utmost, and every one of us has got to do the same.”
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson also appeared, attacking Hillary Clinton, who he has clashed with as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security.
"If we can't trust her to tell us the truth, how can we possibly trust her to lead America?" Johnson said.
He also zeroed in on Russ Feingold, who is challenging Johnson in an effort to reclaim the Senate seat Feingold lost in 2010.
"I'm running against Russ Feingold, who, even after 9/11, voted against giving law enforcement the tools they need to help stop international terror," Johnson said, referring to Feingold's vote against the U.S. Patriot Act. "During his 18-year Senate career, he also voted against authorizing our military 11 separate times. And now he's asking Wisconsinites to give him a fourth term."
Johnson had said earlier he would skip the convention to campaign in Wisconsin but instead it was announced Sunday he would speak.
Feingold’s campaign quickly hit back against Johnson, saying Johnson was more inclined to launch political attacks than propose policy measures.
"Tonight in Cleveland, [Ron] Johnson showed that he isn't interested in protecting the national and economic security of Wisconsinites, he's far more interested in protecting Donald Trump and his fellow Washington Republicans," the campaign said in the statement.
