The words "contested convention" have been thrown around a lot recently as the Republican Candidates vie for the Presidency. However, most people do not understand all the details about what a contested convention looks like. A contested convention was seen when Gerald Ford was the republican nominee for president over Ronald Reagan. Ford lost but that was one of the most recent times that a contested convention has been used.

When primary voters name the winners of their states, there are delegates tied to the voters choice and these delegates are then tied to the candidate their state voted for or the proportional number of delegates each candidate is awarded based on what type of primary a state is having (winner take all or proportional). But, if no candidate can come on with the right or "golden" number of delegates, the delegates from each state are then free to shift their vote or maintain their vote to whichever they feel is best. In this way, the delegates make up their own minds for who they want to get the nomination and are not bound by the candidate their state initially might have been giving delegates to. This curtails a long process of pursuasion and lobbying to eventually take a re-vote to eventually find a majority nominee that can be agreed upon.

Contested conventions are a big deal for candidates because they can allow an underdog to rise upon all the mayhem they faced during the primaries. but, a contested convention is also seen as a last option tactic for finding the nominee for a party.