Colorado’s 34 delegates to the Republican National Convention will head to Cleveland on Monday with heavy hearts as the last-ditch effort to resuscitate their nominee, Ted Cruz, has fizzled.

As of Thursday, however, Cruz had not released his delegates, according to Secretary of State Wayne Williams who is a Cruz delegate.

“Sen. Cruz has not released his delegates so although he has suspended his campaign I am still a pledged delegate to Ted Cruz, and for me I will keep my word on that regardless of what the RNC rules are,” Williams said. “I think when you tell people you are going to do something and that is the basis on which they elect you that you should follow through with your commitment.”

Cruz swept Colorado when he was in Colorado Springs for the state assembly in April.

But shortly after, Donald Trump secured enough delegates across the nation to become the presumptive nominee and Cruz withdrew from the race.

That didn’t stop a rules committee from considering passing a rule for the RNC that would have freed delegates from their pledges to Trump and allowed them to “vote their conscience.”

The movement went down in flames last week with only a handful out of the hundred members of the rule-making committee supporting it.

The drama isn’t putting a pall on those headed to Cleveland.

“I think this is going to be a great opportunity. Honestly I have no idea what to expect,” said 18-year-old Joel Crank who is among the youngest delegates in the nation.

“It does worry me quite a bit that the Never Trump party may not come back. I think a lot of them will come back to the Republican Party,” he said. “The Republican Party does need to do something to unify. Because it is very troubling to see this division of two parties.”

Crank, whose father is a Colorado Springs radio personality, said there are parts of the Trump campaign that speak to him.

First off, he’s “not Hillary,” Crank said. And “he could be a very good president in the way he handles economic policy. He could be very tough on terrorism and I think he has the potential to close down the border.”

That was the most positive thing about Trump any of the Colorado delegates interviewed by The Gazette had to say leading into the convention.

Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, is an alternate delegate for Cruz but emphasized he will support Trump.

“Comparing Trump to other presidential candidates, I see a lot of Harry Truman in him – foul mouthed, get in trouble for it. A lot of people like that,” Lambert said.

Former state Sen. Ted Harvey hoped an alternative could be found.

“I would like them to be free to vote their conscience,” Harvey said of delegates. “I think it would make our party stronger if Trump could come out with a majority of the vote … right now it is a very divided party and if he were able to come out victorious then I think it sends a strong message that he is the nominee.”

He is chair of the massive anti-Clinton national Political Action Committee Stop Clinton. It has 1.5 million members, Harvey said, and has raised more than $2 million.

“I will do everything I can to make sure that Hillary Clinton is not the next president of the United States and I think 99 percent of the Republicans out there and 50 percent of the unaffiliated out there will agree with me that the worst thing that could happen is for Hillary Clinton to become president of the United States.”

Harvey said the Cruz slate that was put together is for the most part very close.

The delegates will eat breakfast together most mornings and have speakers stop by to say hello, and the delegates will sit on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.

Colorado’s Republican nominee for Senate, Darryl Glenn, will help kick things off Monday night. He is tentatively scheduled to take the main stage about 7 p.m. Colorado time.

Glenn has proven to be an ardent Trump supporter, saying he will carry the presumptive nominee to victory in Colorado. Glenn gave a show-stopping speech at the state assembly that effectively knocked a dozen other candidates off the ballot in one fell swoop. When the black Republican addressed the Western Conservative Summit he tackled the issue of race and racism.

Katey Price, Glenn’s spokeswoman, said she couldn’t reveal what Glenn will talk about Monday, but the speech is considered a major step for the underdog candidate who is trying to unseat Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet.

This isn’t Williams’ first Republican National Convention. He attended in 1992, 2000 and 2008 and was an alternate in 2012.

“It is inspiring because you do usually have wonderful speakers whether they are a Medal of Honor winner or a governor or someone who has taken on challenges and accomplished things,” Williams said. “It’s a way of sharing ideas.

“t’s an opportunity to be reminded of some of the bedrock principles this nation was founded on.”

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Contact Megan Schrader: 286-0644

Twitter: @CapitolSchrader

Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Darryl Glenn will be speaking at the Republican National Convention on Monday.