CLEVELAND — As the roll call vote began to award Donald Trump the GOP presidential nomination, Ryan Davenport slipped out of the convention hall to a nearby restaurant.

Davenport, a 25-year-old high school teacher from Dallas, wasn't the only convention-goer to take a pass on the big moment. Images showed a partially empty arena as the night dragged on. Speeches by Trump's children, a manager of his winery and a soap opera-star-turned-avocado-grower topped the prime-time lineup.

Trump may be a highly rated former reality TV star, especially adept at generating media attention, but he struggled this week to hold onto the audience with his takeover of the Republican Party.

“I can't make the case for Donald Trump. And I won't,” said Davenport, an alternate delegate from Texas. “I'm going to hang on to whatever last shred of hope I have that someone's going to ride in.”

Disunity was evident beyond the arena. Television ratings showed viewing audience also shrunk from opening night, as viewers apparently lost interest in the B-list celebrities and Trump-backing members of Congress on the convention stage.

Veteran GOP operatives say the problem wasn't just the convention's disorganized schedule and lack of top-notch political rock stars — the two living former Republican presidents are not participating — causing convention burnout. It's reflective of the broader struggle within the Republican Party that just can't quite fully embrace Trump.

By Night Three, though, it was almost impossible to ignore the stage as Trump's chief rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, was booed for his refusal to back the nominee in a remarkable moment.

Trump has brought many new voters to the party, including those who have sat out past primaries and now passionately support the businessman as an outsider alternative to stale politicians.

Among those who are all-in for Trump, the mood was decisively more upbeat.

Don Halle, a building contractor from Gulfport, Miss., and his wife, Linda, said the convention floor felt so much more alive than it did just four years ago, when Republicans gave a lackluster nomination to Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan.

“This was a lot more enthusiastic,” said Don, a Trump supporter from “day one.” “In 2012, I left there not feeling very good about Mitt Romney. We feel already so good about this.”

Aimee Winder Newton wasn't sure what to expect at this, her first convention, but she definitely noticed the emptying hall those first nights as she watched the proceedings from seats high in the stands.

The Utah mom of four wondered if folks were leaving because of the lineup or if they were just tired after the long day. Certainly, delegates could have opted to hob-nob at the many off-site parties.

She stuck around, even though she has had little interest in the parade of actors and Trump backers — and said many of her Utah colleagues were moving through the stages of grief, as she put it, that Trump is the nominee.

“Once we move past his messaging and some of his rude comments, we want to know who Donald Trump is, so we can feel better about him,” she said.

She was heartened to hear from Trump's son, Don Jr., with his upbeat tone.

“I'm looking for those things that can help me feel comfortable about the nominee,” she said.

Longtime Republican strategist Kevin Madden, a former top Romney aide, said he understood delegates' dilemma. He, too, stayed away the Quicken Loans Arena on that historic night when delegates gave Trump the nomination.

“It's not a happy occasion inside, so they're looking at ways to get outside,” he said.

“There is a bit of an Irish wake quality to it.”

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com