Trump delegates with 'foreign' names got fewer votes than those that sounded 'white'


There is evidence to suggest that Donald Trump lost a handful of delegates in Illinois because his supporters weren't willing to vote for people with "foreign-sounding" names, The Cook Political Report's Dave Wasserman pointed out.
Illinois, which had its primary on Tuesday, does things a little differently than in other states:
Rather than voting for candidates, primary-goers [in Illinois] vote for a number of delegates who are pledged to candidates in their congressional district. So instead of voting for "Donald Trump," a supporter would have to vote three times for "John Smith (Trump)," "Jack Jones (Trump)," and "Frank Miller (Trump)."But what if one of those delegates was named, say, Nabi Fakroddin? That's what happened in Illinois' 6th District, where 4,000 Trump voters who supported someone named Paul Minch were unwilling to vote for Fakroddin. That allowed a John Kasich delegate to sneak into the top three. [Mediaite]
The occurrence was repeated with Trump delegate Raja Sadiq in Illinois' 13th district. Trump supporter Doug Hartmann won 31,937 votes but Sadiq only earned 24,103, allowing three Ted Cruz delegates to get ahead. Taneequa Tolbert also did worse than her peers with more "white"-sounding names, although Mediaite reports that she managed to eke into third to save Trump the delegate.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
Why are military experts so interested in Ukraine's drone attack?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The Zelenskyy government's massive surprise assault on Russian airfields was a decisive tactical victory — could it also be the start of a new era in autonomous warfare?
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media