Republican front-runner Donald Trump is not happy with the GOP's delegate rules, saying they are "corrupt" and denying him delegates in states he won. But NBC's analysis shows Trump has actually benefited from the party's arcane rules for allocating delegates more than his rival Ted Cruz.
Trump now has 756 delegates — or 45 percent of all delegates awarded to date —yet he has won about 37 percent of all votes in the primaries, according to the NBC analysis.
For each percentage point of total primary votes Trump has won, he has been awarded 1.22 percent of the total delegates. That means he has been awarded a delegate bonus of 22 percent above his raw support from voters.
Meanwhile, Cruz has been awarded about 1.14 percent of the delegates for each percentage point of votes he has won — a delegate bonus of 14 percent above his raw support. The data show Trump has been awarded 8 percent more delegates than Cruz for the same rate of voter support.
