The presidential campaign of the libertarian Republican Ron Paul has reached agreement with party leaders on delegate disputes, clearing the way for a harmonious convention to nominate Mitt Romney next week in Tampa, Fla. Mr. Paul’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, said the agreement would seat 17 additional Paul delegates from Louisiana, as well as three additional delegates and two alternates from Massachusetts.
Negotiations continued over delegates from Maine. But Mr. Benton said the party’s Committee on Contests would recommend splitting the delegation from Maine between representatives of Mr. Paul and Mr. Romney.
A Republican National Committee official confirmed the deal, crediting “mutual respect and professionalism” between the candidates.
Paul campaign officials also pointed toward cooperation in drafting the party platform. Among other issues, they expressed satisfaction with language calling for auditing the Federal Reserve, a stance Mr. Romney embraced while campaigning this week.
Libertarian-minded Republicans backing Mr. Paul, including a significant number of young voters, “have made themselves into a movement that cannot be ignored,” Mr. Benton said.
Mr. Paul, a longtime House member from Texas who once mounted a third-party bid for the White House, is not scheduled to speak at the convention.
But his son Rand Paul, a first-term senator from Kentucky, is. He is viewed as a potential heir to the movement his father led in the last two nomination fights.
