BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts delegation to next week's Republican National Convention could enjoy an enhanced role at the gathering while representing the home state of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
There are 41 voting delegates and 38 alternates in the Bay State delegation. All are committed to former Gov. Mitt Romney.
Tim Buckley, a spokesman for the state GOP, said the delegation will be given a prominent place on the convention floor and will stay at the same hotel as Romney across from the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
Buckley could not say if the Massachusetts delegation would be given the traditional though symbolic home state honor of casting the votes to put Romney over the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. In 2008, the Arizona delegation cast the votes that put Sen. John McCain over the top at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Aside from Romney, no Massachusetts Republicans will have a speaking role at the convention. U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told reporters earlier in the week that he was asked to speak but decided against it.
Brown said he planned to attend the convention only on the final day of the convention next Thursday.
"I'm going down there just to enjoy it," he said. "To have somebody from Massachusetts running is quite an honor."
Brown said he planned to spend only one day at the convention, in part, so he could continue to focus on his re-election campaign. His Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren, is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., the following week.
Brown sent a letter this week to Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus asking that the party's platform be more inclusive on abortion and include concessions that respect the views of pro-abortion rights Republicans.
The Massachusetts delegation will be chaired by Kerry Healey, who served as Romney's lieutenant governor.
Other delegates include state House Minority Leader Bradley Jones, R-North Reading, state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz.