Texas Rep. Ron Paul won less than 13 percent of the vote in Oregon's Republican presidential primary, but his supporters now make up at least half of the state's delegation to the national convention in Tampa later this month.

The Paul forces are also mounting official credentials challenges with the national GOP aimed at giving them full control of the delegation.

Supporters of the libertarian-minded presidential candidate face an uphill battle in their credentials fights in Oregon and three other states -- Massachusetts, Louisiana and Maine -- where they tangled with party regulars over the process of selecting delegates.

Republicans on both sides of the fight say it won't affect Mitt Romney's ability to win the Republican nomination. He has the strong majority of the delegate vote needed to do just that, and most of the Paul supporters in the Oregon delegation are pledged by state law and party rules to vote for Romney.

But Paul supporters hope to have enough clout to turn at least part of the spotlight in Tampa to the 76-year-old doctor and his often-contrarian views. Paul talks about such things as slashing the U.S. military presence overseas, ending the federal war on drugs, and limiting the scope of the national security laws.

"A lot of people worked very hard to win those delegate positions," said Jesse Benton, Paul's national campaign chairman. "We want to make sure they are treated fairly."

The Paul forces undoubtedly worked to magnify their role beyond the votes the Texas congressman won in Oregon and several other states.

In five congressional district conventions held around Oregon on June 23, Republican precinct officials supporting Paul showed up in force and held to a disciplined strategy of voting for a slate of delegates.

In addition to winning the three seats reserved for delegates pledged to support the Texas congressman, the Paul supporters also were selected to fill several slots for delegates who pledge to vote for Romney as well as for another candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

All told, GOP spokesman Greg Leo said he thinks the Paul forces won half of Oregon's 28 delegates to the convention. Tom Armstrong, Paul's Oregon coordinator, said he believes his side actually has 15 of the 28 delegates.

Whatever the case, the voting on the delegates was just the start of the story. State Party Chairman Allen Alley angered the Paulites by shutting down the district conventions at 5 p.m., just as party precinct workers began selecting alternate delegates.

Instead, the party's executive committee chose the alternates later. That was important, because the delegates and alternates jointly vote on who will chair the delegation and on who will serve on the various convention committees -- including the one drafting the Republican national platform. Those top spots went to party regulars. Alley, for instance, was elected chairman of the delegation.

Outraged Paul supporters flooded the Internet with videos and caustic commentary on Alley and the state GOP's actions. "It's just stark cronyism," said Judy Morrise, a Washington County homemaker elected on the Paul slate. She is now a pledged Romney delegate, but backs the credentials challenge.

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Alley said he carefully followed the rules, knowing that everything he did at the June 23 district conventions would face scrutiny. Several longtime GOP activists defended Alley.

"He's trying to protect the integrity of how Oregonians voted, which is not for Ron Paul, " said Tim Nashif, a founder of the Oregon Family Council, who was chosen as an alternate delegate.

In their credential challenges, the Paul forces claim they also were unfairly blocked from winning delegate slots in Massachusetts and Louisiana. In Maine, top GOP officials are mounting their own credentials challenge to knock some Paul supporters off the delegation.

Alley said party regulars were initially wary about the Paul forces because of a lawsuit filed in California by a group calling itself Lawyers for Paul seeking to free delegates from their pledges to support Romney at the convention.

So far, said Alley, he hasn't heard of any Romney delegate in Oregon seeking to get out from under the pledge.

Alley said he's still not sure what the Paul forces hope to accomplish in Tampa.

"That's where you wonder, why would anybody want to do this?" he said, referring to the credentials challenges, "especially when the outcome is predetermined" that Romney will be nominated.

Although Paul said he doesn't plan to run for political office again, it's clear he wants to keep his followers engaged -- perhaps to aid the future aspirations of his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. His supporters also hope that Ron Paul gets a chance to give a convention speech before a huge TV audience.

Benton, Paul's campaign chairman, said the question of whether Paul will get to speak is "very much in flux right now." But he said he's had encouraging talks with GOP leaders.

In a fundraising letter sent out last month, Paul described the convention as a "critical step for our R3VOLUTION." (His campaign supporters have an unusual typeface they use for that word to highlight the word "love," which appears backward.)

The "establishment hasn't just sat still and quietly watched us take over party chapters and rack up delegates," Paul said. The convention is "our opportunity to plant our flag and show that our Liberty movment is the future of the GOP."

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