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WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For the first time in several election cycles, Pennsylvania&#8217;s primary election next month will actually mean something in the race for the White House.Two political analysts agreed that Pennsylvania will play a key role in deciding which candidates will carry the banner for their respective parties.&#8220;Yes, I think it will matter,&#8221; said Ed Mitchell, a longtime political analyst and consultant. &#8220;No candidates will have enough delegates wrapped up (by April 26), meaning Pennsylvania delegates will be very important.&#8221;Terry Madonna, professor of public affairs and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, said the primary will matter, but in a different way.Madonna said Democratic delegate candidates will appear on the ballot with the name of the presidential candidate they support listed. Not so, said Madonna, on the Republican side, where delegate candidates are listed only by name.&#8220;Voters will be voting for delegates without knowing who they are supporting for president,&#8221; Madonna said. &#8220;Because of these delegates not being bound and because they will be unbound on the first ballot at the convention, they could play a huge role.&#8221;Madonna said while Pennsylvania will be important, it&#8217;s not likely a win here will give Donald Trump enough delegates to reach the required 1,237 to secure the nomination before the GOP convention in Cleveland, July 18-21.Both the Republican and Democratic parties allocate some delegates to the winner of the April 26 primary, but &#8220;party rules&#8221; empower some to choose a candidate.There are 71 GOP delegates in Pennsylvania, with 54 elected in the 18 congressional districts at three per district. Another 14 &#8220;at-large&#8221; delegates are chosen by party leaders and must vote for the primary winner on the first ballot only at the convention. The three &#8220;automatic&#8221; delegates &#8212; the state GOP chairman, national committeeman and national committeewoman &#8212; also are legally bound to vote for the Pennsylvania winner on the first ballot only.On the Democratic side, each congressional district has &#8220;pledged&#8221; delegates whose names appear on the primary ballot and have declared their support for a particular candidate. Pledged delegates are awarded to candidates on a proportional basis that hinges on the results of the primary.To date, Hillary Clinton has 1,243 of the required 1,712 delegates, compared to 975 for Bernie Sanders.Pennsylvania has a total of 210 Democratic delegates &#8212; including 21 &#8220;super delegates&#8221; who are free to vote for any candidate.According to the website thegreenpapers.com:&#8226; 189 of 210 delegates to the Democratic National Convention &#8212; July 25-28 in Philadelphia &#8212; are pledged to presidential contenders based on the results of the voting in the Pennsylvania Presidential Primary.&#8226; A mandatory 15 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated national convention delegates at either the congressional district or statewide level.&#8226; 127 district delegates are to be pledged proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the state&#8217;s 18 congressional districts.&#8226; In addition, 62 delegates are to be pledged to presidential contenders based on the primary vote statewide.As Madonna said, &#8220;it&#8217;s complicated.&#8221;Mitchell said several primaries remain before Pennsylvania&#8217;s, but he said it appears Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination and Donald Trump will secure the GOP nod.In a general election between Clinton and Trump, Mitchell sees Clinton prevailing.&#8220;I really don&#8217;t think Trump can beat Hillary,&#8221; Mitchell said.That said, Mitchell is surprised that Trump has not only lasted this long in the race, but that he has emerged as the clear Republican front-runner.&#8220;He has what looks like an insurmountable lead,&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;It would be very difficult for Ted Cruz to catch him.&#8221;Mitchell said Trump&#8217;s popularity can be attributed to people being tired of political insiders.&#8220;They want an outsider,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People are very angry. Trump speaks like an outsider and people believe he will act as an outsider.&#8221;Mitchell said that&#8217;s why candidates like Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson didn&#8217;t get much support.Republicans have gained registrations in Pennsylvania &#8212; some 60,000 new voters &#8212; and the Democrats have lost about 30,000, but still hold a wide margin overall.&#8220;It&#8217;s been a wild year and it will only get wilder,&#8221; Mitchell said.Local voters speak outThe Times Leader recently asked readers to comment on who they are supporting for president in 2016. The only responses received were in support of Republican candidates.&#8226; Mickey Finn: &#8220;Trump in &#8216;16 of course. He may have some shortcomings in understanding politics, but I&#8217;m sure he will surround himself with a knowledgeable cabinet. Just as all great businessmen do.&#8220;No candidate has stirred my political fervor like this guy in over 40 years. And I haven&#8217;t missed one election, even during my time as a Dem in &#8216;Nam. Republican since last week. How about that for fervor.&#8221;&#8226; Eric Casey, Wilkes University &#8216;16: &#8220;My candidate is Ohio Governor John Kasich. He is indisputably the most qualified to become the GOP nominee and most able to win in the general election. The other two Republicans are completely inadequate.&#8220;You have Ted Cruz who is way too inexperienced. He can&#8217;t get along with members of the House. He&#8217;s making this irrational appeal to super crazy religious people.&#8220;Then you have Donald Trump who realistically can&#8217;t be president even in an alternate universe. What Trump has done thus far is build up a regime of angry racist white people, and they aren&#8217;t just middle aged men who only wear camouflage.&#8220;I&#8217;m a young &#8216;millennial&#8217; voter in which this will be my second presidential election. I just made the switch from Libertarian to Republican to vote for John Kasich. Kasich has the best shot at winning in a convention. Please vote for Gov. John Kasich because he&#8217;s the only hope.&#8221;&#8226; Mathew Milard: &#8220;I&#8217;m also going Trump. So far no bad things have come up about him.&#8221;&#8226; Joe Mulligan, Wilkes-Barre: &#8220;Yep&#8230; Trump.&#8221;&#8226; Don Francis, Wilkes University: &#8220;Definitely Trump!&#8221;&#8226; Bill Jones, Middleburg (formerly of Wilkes-Barre): &#8220;I&#8217;m voting Trump. I can&#8217;t vote Cruz. He reminds me of a paranoid Richard Nixon on steroids.&#8220;Hillary Clinton has lost all credibility. She lies to herself so much, she actually now believes it.&#8220;I&#8217;m voting for Trump, he may have issues, but he will do what he says he will do.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Ed Mitchell </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Ed-Mitchell-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Ed Mitchell </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Terry-Madonna-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Terry Madonna </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_Terry-Madonna-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Terry Madonna </caption1><photoCredit1>Photo courtesy Franklin &amp; Marshall College </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Bill O&#8217;Boyleboboyle@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</shirttailMeta></div>

In 2016, the Pennsylvania primary will mean something — finally