the race for the GOP nomination# and the delegates who will vote## at the Republican National Convention# this summer is only just beginning.

Domenico Montanaro of NPR is here to# walk us through the long road ahead.

It's good to see you, friend.

So, we know that 40 Re and they were allocated proportionally.# How did Donald Trump's commanding last night position him in the# delegate race moving forward?

DOMENICO MONTANARO, Political# Editor, NPR: Well, first of all,## GE OFF BENNETT: Yes.

because the Trump campaign, which is more# sophisticated this time than in 20 has really been able to make a lot# of efforts to move up states in## the process that favor him with the# kinds of processes that favo And by the end of March, we're going to see 70# percent of the delegates allocated.

So we're## talking about only a couple of months here.

And# when you look at that you have about a dozen## states in that period of time that Kevin Madden# was talking about that have winner-take-all, if## a winner -- if the person gets above 50 percent,# meaning a state like California has 169 delegates.

If Trump were to get over 50 percent, like# he did last night, he gets all of those## delegates.

That's new.

That's something# that the Trump campaign really pu for.

And when you look at those two dates that# Kevin mentioned between March 5 there's over 1,200 delegates at# stake just on those two weeks.

And 1,215 is the magic number that somebody# needs to get.

And with all of these potentially## winner-take-all states, I'm circling on# my calendar March 23, because March 19,## I'm calling winner-take-all Tuesday,# because there are finally going to## be actually states saying whoever# wins gets all the delegates And we may be talking about Trump wrapping# up the nomination by the end of March.

GEOFF BENNETT: Really?

Domenico era has to do with the ways in which# Donald Trump and his allies reengineered## the infrastructure of the Republican# Party and installed MAGA acolytes in## his supporters in key state positions.# Many of them are state party chairs.

Tell me more about that and how# he is now capitalizing on it.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: I mean, it's a# hugely undercovered story, I mean,## that he was able to hire people who# really under and were doing this at times when people# weren't really paying that much attention.

Sure, the DeSantis campaign was trying to# ramp up.

They had people who were trying## to influence this as well.

But, look, Trump is# a quasi-incumbent.

He' And while he was president, he installed a# lot of loyalists within those state parties,## so that you wouldn't have something like what# happened in 2016 on the floor of the convention,## where Ted Cruz and people who were associated with# him could mount this kind of potential challenge.

It didn't work, but Trump was, like,# not wanting to have to see a repeat of## some WWE-style moment that we all had to watch,# where Ted Cruz is coming down from the raf GEOFF BENNETT: Right.

And they have pushed, they have leveraged# almost everything th whether it's incentivizing people to# go to Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster to be## wind and dined or to be threatened# with potential punishment if Trump## does become president and to# be iced out of the process.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's look ahead to# New Hampshire.

How well does Haley have to do in New Hampshire to hav DOMENICO MONTANARO: I think a lot of# people are saying she's going to have to## win in New Hampshire, consid And I think it's going to be difficult for her# to win in a place like South Carolina.

I think## she -- if she finishes a reasonably close# second place, considering that Trump has# had a double-digit lead there, she can still# make the argument that she needs to mov But you got to look at the demographics# of the electorate in New Hampshire.## You're not going to have another# state that's quite as moderate,## where Haley can sort of appeal to those# voters, because it's just not the majority## of the Republican caucuses right now,# Republican primary voters right now.

I mean, we saw last night, in the entrance polls,# two-thirds of Republican caucus-goers said that## they felt that, even if Trump was convicted of a# crime, that he would still be fit to be president.## You had only three in 10 voters say that they# thought Joe Biden was legitimately elected.

I mean, that is not the profile# of the kinds of voters that Nikki## Haley can really appeal to and win out with.

GEOFF BENNETT: Domenico Montanaro,## senior polit DOMENICO MONTANARO: You're welcome.