California IS NOT WINNER TAKE ALL. It is by Congressional district similar to Missouri.
There are 53 Congressional districts times three delegates per district for a total of 159 delegates plus the winner of California gets an extra 10. I don’t know where the 172 number comes from and I’m guessing some superdelegates.
If it comes down to California, Cruz will get some delegates, primarily the Central Valley I’m guessing.
A lot of people are saying it’ll be winner take all and it’s not.
Here’s the CA GOP website that describes how delegates are chosen: https://www.cagop.org/national-delegation/
You are correct about the California process.
However, that actually helps Trump because he probably will get “over the top” while needing to win only some of the California districts.
That math makes it more likely that the Cruz folks will figure out the numbers and cut a deal with Trump well before California.
If it was a true winner take all state then Cruz would be motivated to spend tons of money in advertising and take a shot at winning all state delegates.
Every state has 3 RNC delegates, so that’s the extra 3 in Cali. My guess is that they are bound to the state result, like the RNC delegates are in most states. I’d have to look it up.
At the end of the day, the map is possible for Trump. It’s impossible for Kasich. Cruz has a path, but it’s very, very, very narrow. It will likely be taken away after he loses AZ next Tuesday.