Texas Sen. and presidential candidate Ted Cruz sees trouble on the GOP's horizon if his party hosts a brokered convention in July.

It's been the topic of a growing buzz around the political race: that the Republican primary could wrap up without any candidate claiming a majority of delegates, prompting a series of votes at the party's convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in July.

Cruz said Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, "If a bunch of Washington deal-makers try to step in in a brokered convention and steal the nomination, I think we will have a manifest uprising."

It was an echo of comments he made Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, when he asserted that a brokered convention could prompt a "manifest revolt" across the country.

.@tedcruz at @CPAC: establishment has a "master plan" to go to a brokered convention and choose their preferred candidate, not me or Trump — Dylan Baddour (@DylanBaddour) March 4, 2016

Last week, major media outlets reported that some Republican Party leadership could see a brokered convention as the last opportunity to rout a primary win by either Cruz or front-runner Donald Trump — neither of whom carry much favor in Washington D.C.

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"[A brokered GOP convention] would be incredibly historic. There would really be no precedent for it under the modern primary system we have now," said Jeff Engle, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. "I think it's as likely as not."

Republican radio host Rush Limbaugh also told Fox News Monday that he thought Republican Party elites would try to use the convention to prevent a nomination for Trump.

"If that happens, there's a walk out. If that happens, then you've got utter chaos," Limbaugh said.

However, Engle noted that a brokered convention would not be induced by an establishment "master plan," as Cruz alleged in his CPAC speech, but rather by math. If no candidate claims more than 50 percent of GOP delegates, the convention will be brokered.

It seems plausible now, Engle said, because Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have shown no signs of abandoning their campaigns, and could garner enough support to keep both Trump and Cruz from winning a majority.

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Kasich told reporters Monday that he could win at a brokered convention without claiming a delegate lead, The Washington Post reported.

How exactly a brokered convention would work in 2016 remains unclear, Engle said, since the primary system has evolved significantly since the last contested GOP convention in 1976. Gerald Ford emerged over Ronald Reagan as the party's nominee then thanks to "backroom deals and delegate swapping," according to a December report from the New York Times.

About half the states have cast ballots in the GOP primary, giving Trump 384 delegates and Cruz 300. About 1,240 are needed to win, and 1,585 remain to be awarded.

A final outlook for the convention should come on Tuesday, March 15, when votes are cast in Ohio and Florida, the home states of Kasich and Rubio. If those candidates win their home states, they will all-but guarantee that no one can claim an outright majority.

If someone does claim an outright majority, Engle said, it most likely will be Trump.