Political consultants are comparing the Republican Presidential Primary to the popular Netflix series, ‘House of Cards.’ 

As of right now, it does not look like any of the three remaining candidates will be able to rack up the 1,237 delegates required to win the GOP nomination. 

“It’s what  political people live for, it’s what political junkies die for,” said Brian Berry, a political consultant who used to work with the Republican National Committee. 

Now halfway through the primary season, Berry said it looks like the GOP candidates are headed toward an open contest at the Republican National Convention. That means it will be up to the duly elected delegates to decide who the Republican Party’s presidential nominee will be, not voters.

“The cajoling, the pulling the people aside in the corners to say, ‘look, you know I need your vote.’ And it’s going to be, quite frankly, one of the most exciting Republican Conventions,” Berry said. 

The former Political Director of the Southwestern Region of the National Republican Committee, Berry also served on the RNC’s Rules Committee. He said now is the time people should start paying attention to the RNC’s rules.

“You’re seeing a novel or a TV series like ‘House of Cards’ come to life—this is it in real,” said Berry.

Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump warned there will be major consequences—chaos—if the Republican Primary goes to an open contest at the Republican National Convention in July. 

“I think that would be an absolute disaster I think the people will quite rightly revolt,” Cruz said. He said the winner should be declared at the ballot box, not the party’s convention in Cleveland, OH.

Cruz is against the idea of an open contest, but some argue it could play in his favor and set him up to win the nomination.

“Ted Cruz is in a strong position,” Berry said. Cruz is in second place, about 250 delegates behind Trump, but Berry said that’s not a bad position to be in right now. 

“Some people might be questioning Trump at this point. Even those that might have supported him.” Berry said there’s been more scrutiny on Donald Trump, “And now I think Ted Cruz might benefit from that second look. Voters are taking a second look,” said Berry.

The party’s front runner, Donald Trump has about 660 delegates, that’s a little more than half what’s needed to win the nomination—1,237 Republican delegates. Trump said he should be named the nominee, even if he doesn’t get the amount of delegates required to win.

“I think you’d have riots. I think you’d have riots,” Trump said.  “I’m representing a tremendous—many, many millions of people.”

Berry said the two candidates are concerned that the Republican establishment will try to change the RNC rules to introduce an alternative candidate—perhaps someone who dropped out of the primary or maybe someone who didn’t run at all.

As the RNC rules stand now, a candidate must be nominated by at least eight U.S. states or territories for their name to even be entered onto the first vote of the contest. 

Berry said, “Then you have a second ballot taken, then a third, and if it goes to four or five ballots, that is by the rules.” Berry said it will probably  take at least a couple rounds for a candidate to get the majority of delegates on their side.

Trump and Cruz met already surpassed the eight-state threshold in the first half of the primary season. So far, Gov. John Kasich has one state win which makes it unlikely he will make it on the contest ballot, under the current rules.

In the first vote of the contest, most delegates are bound to stick with the candidate their state went with during the primary or caucus vote. After the first ballot vote, delegates could be able to switch their votes to back a different candidate, depending on the state’s and Republican Party’s rules.

Since both Cruz and Trump are considered to be the “rebels” of the Republican Party, Berry said the two could pair up to stand up against the “mainstream” Republicans at the convention. “I think there is a bit of a checkmate here going in that Trump and Cruz as outsiders come in with strength to say, ‘don’t try any games,’” Berry said.

Both Trump and Cruz said they think they’ll get the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination before the convention in July.

Meanwhile, Kasich is looking forward to the convention. He told his supporters he’s going “all the way” to Cleveland.

Berry said the likelihood of an open contest will pressure the three remaining candidates to name a running mate, sooner rather than later. Berry said right now Marco Rubio is a very attractive candidate for Vice President, since he was backed by the Republican establishment before he dropped out of the race.