HARTFORD--Connecticut's primaries will be held on April 26, the same day as primaries in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Connecticut's votes are of particular importance this election year because of the possibility of a contested GOP convention.
"On that day, we're the only state that is not a winner-take-all state," explained J.R. Romano, chair of Connecticut's Republican Party. "So, in a battle for delegates, Connecticut becomes very important."
The convention will be contested if no candidate receives a majority of the delegates, or 1,237 delegates. Front-runner Donald Trump currently holds 673 delegates. If contested--also known as an "open" convention--delegates get to choose the nominee, a complicated process that varies by state.
"If there's a contested convention, there's going to be a big rules fight," said Salon.com columnist Bill Curry. "There's going to be big rules fights over how the delegates get to vote right at the outset."
April 26, however, could potentially be the day that the Republican front-runner receives enough delegates to secure the nomination.
"That threshold could be reached that day," said Romano. "It could be Donald Trump. It could be Ted Cruz. But when you're looking at it from that perspective, every vote counts."
"The handful of delegates that we are electing one way or the other on that day could really, really matter," added Curry.
Connecticut Republicans could significantly impact Trump's campaign.
"Connecticut could, in fact, play a major roll in putting him over the top, if he obviously wins Connecticut," said Romano.
A contested convention is, however, historically rare. "We've only had two truly contested conventions in the last 75 years," said Curry.
The last time Republicans went into the July convention without a clear nominee was in 1976, when Ronald Reagan challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford.