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What will happen to Ted Cruz's and John Kasich's delegates?

Trump beat Cruz by 16 points
Trump calls for GOP unity as Cruz quits race 03:24

Ted Cruz suspended his campaign but earned 562 delegates along the way, according to CBS News estimates, and John Kasich also ended his campaign, having won 152 delegates.

So what happens to those delegates now? Are they free to throw their support to Donald Trump?

The state Republican parties set the rules for what's to be done with pledged delegates, and each state has different rules.

For example, many states bind their delegates to their presidential candidates for the first convention ballot unless the candidate "releases" their delegates. Other state parties say delegates are bound to a candidate unless the candidate "withdraws." To confuse the situation further, it's not always clear whether suspending a campaign qualifies as withdrawing.

Nevertheless, even if Cruz and Kasich publicly endorsed Trump, their delegates would not automatically go to the presumptive Republican nominee. While some of their delegates may turn uncommitted, it looks like Trump may need to earn most of his future delegates on his own -- by winning them in the remaining primaries.

Some examples of state rules highlighted below:

With Cruz out, will the GOP unite behind Trump? 04:15

Texas: Nearly one-fifth of Cruz's delegates -- 101 -- were won in his home state of Texas. State party rules say that if a candidate files a sworn statement with the Texas Republican party to withdraw, then those delegates become uncommitted. However, if a candidate just makes a public withdrawal (without doing so formally with the party), those delegates remain bound to that candidate, at least for the first ballot.

Utah: All 40 of the state's delegates were allocated to Cruz after he won the caucuses in March. According to the state party, if a candidate who has been allocated delegates is not a candidate at the convention than those delegates get reallocated -- but the rules indicate that this occurs at the convention, not before.

Wisconsin: Cruz's win in Wisconsin earned him the bulk of the state's delegates -- 36 of them. Under state party rules, delegates are bound until released by a candidate, or until that candidate receives less than a third of a roll call vote at the convention. It's unclear if just a suspension or formal release is required.

Alaska and Louisiana: In Louisiana, the 18 delegates Cruz won will become unbound after a candidate no longer has an active campaign (that's what happened to Rubio's delegates). In Alaska, party rules state that a candidate's delegates are re-allocated to remaining candidates after a candidate exits the race, and Cruz won 12 here. But when the Alaska Republican party re-apportioned Rubio's delegates after he suspended his campaign, Rubio requested that he be able to keep his delegates and the party appears to have granted that request.

Ohio: The fate of some of John Kasich's delegates may still be debated -- he won his home state of Ohio and all 66 of its delegates. The state rules on the party web site make no reference to how long Ohio GOP delegates are bound. Some sources indicate delegates may be bound to a candidate even if they suspend their campaign.

Marco Rubio won at least one delegate in 19 states, plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, and the fate of at least some of his delegates has been determined. His 7 delegates in Iowa, 14 delegates in Georgia, 8 in Massachusetts, 12 in Oklahoma, 1 in Hawaii, 6 in North Carolina, 16 in Virginia and 9 in Arkansas will remain bound to him at the convention, though the number of ballots they're bound for varies by state.

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