To begin with, the two-day extravaganza in Dallas is more like a cash-for-seat reception than it is a traditional experience for delegates who carry out party business at a normal presidential-year convention.
Mr. Trump’s convention will still have unofficial delegates, even if they have no formal business to conduct — and some state parties are charging them for the right to attend, much as fund-raising events charge those who want to attend a V.I.P. reception.
One county Republican Party in Texas an “honorary delegate” package for $20,000. Michigan’s Republican Party charged people $5,000 a ticket for floor passes to become an “honorary delegate.”
Donors began checking into luxury hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and the Crescent Court in Dallas on Tuesday afternoon. Some conservative fund-raisers said they expected many of the party’s financial powerhouses not to attend. Several Republican megadonors, including the Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson and the hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, are not scheduled to appear, according to their representatives.