Obscure lawmaker thwarts Never Trump movement

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) played a central role in the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) efforts to quash the Never Trump movement.

As the Republican National Convention’s presiding officer, it was Womack’s job to decide whether more delegates supported or opposed the party’s rules package in a voice vote, where delegates shout either “aye” or “nay” to signify their position. 

{mosads}Despite significant shouting from the “nays,” Womack declared the “ayes have it” and pushed the convention forward onto its next procedural vote. 

That drew the ire of a healthy bloc of delegates who booed and shouted, calling on the RNC to allow for a roll call vote instead.

Asked about his role presiding over the emotional moments on the convention floor, Womack smiled and said, “I’ve been to a few county fairs.”

He also indicated he’s not concerned about any potential blowback from Never Trump supporters vowing to cause trouble for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The uproar put the Arkansas lawmaker, whose support for Trump has been far from full-throated, at the center of the push to kill off the Never Trump effort in Cleveland.

Womack endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the GOP presidential primary, and a spokesperson told an ABC affiliate in Little Rock that he would support “the Republican nominee” but didn’t name Trump specifically. 

Delegates opposed to Trump wanted to force the roll call vote to show how divided the GOP is over the man set to accept the party’s presidential nomination later this week.

Insurgent groups needed a majority of delegates in at least seven states to force the roll call vote.

While the Never Trump delegates declared they had 11 states in their corner, Womack told the crowd that enough states had pulled their support from the effort to keep the anti-Trump delegates from reaching their seven-state threshold.

With that, Womack held another voice vote, effectively declared the Never Trump fight dead, and moved on to passing the party’s platform. 

The RNC and the Trump campaign had looked to avoid the roll call vote to paint a picture of a unified party around Trump. 

Hours after the ruckus, Womack told The Hill that enough delegates had withdrawn from the challenge to sink that effort. So at the first vote, he said it was clear to him the “ayes” outnumbered the “nays,” so he decided to move forward. 

“Part of the chaos was that the floor didn’t know it, but I knew it, and the convention handlers knew it,” Womack told The Hill in a Monday night interview.

He added that the he left the stage briefly to confer with RNC chairman Reince Priebus, top Donald Trump aide Paul Manafort and the convention’s parliamentarian on how to move on. The group ultimately decided to redo the vote to allow Utah Sen. Mike Lee to object so that Womack could disclose the lack of valid signatures. 

“I think it could have been a little cleaner had we explained up-front that the threshold for a roll call had not been meant, but that wasn’t my decision. That was a decision made backstage and I honored it.” 

Womack said that he believes the RNC and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office chose him to preside over the likely contentious measure thanks to his experience presiding on the House floor.