Marco Rubio reportedly trying to hold onto his delegates, despite dropping out of the race

Marco Rubio may no longer be in the Republican presidential race, but he's not ready to give up any of the 172 delegates he won.

MSNBC reports that the Florida senator has sent letters to state parties in 21 states and territories, asking that they not release any of the delegates he won while he was still in the race. Typically, when candidates suspend their campaign, as Rubio did earlier this month, their delegates can move on and support the candidate of their choice. Rubio aide Alex Burgos told MSNBC that Rubio "wants to give voters a chance to stop Trump" at the party convention.

Retired Army Col. Peter Goldberg, the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, received a signed letter from Rubio, asking that the five delegates he won there "remain bound to vote for me" during the Republican National Convention in July. Rubio copied the Republican National Committee's chairman, and also reportedly sent the same letter (which had a typo, calling the United States the "Untied States") out to the other states and territories where he won delegates. "Rubio said, 'I want my delegates,' and I said, 'okay,'" Goldberg said.

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When presidential candidates say they are "suspending" their campaign, it's usually so they can keep operations up and running to take care of paperwork and bills. Goldberg is allowing Rubio to keep his delegates because Alaska's party rules say delegates can be taken from a candidate who "drops out," but says nothing about someone who "suspends" their campaign. Goldberg does admit that in the past "we've always taken 'suspend' to mean 'drop,'" but said RNC officials told him "most states are leaning toward giving [Rubio] his delegates."