However, more prominent Republicans are throwing their support behind Mr Cruz in a last-ditch effort to stop Mr Trump. Gramm was named the campaign’s senior adviser on economic issues and a liaison to members of Congress.
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“This week, in the Utah nominating caucus, I will vote for Senator Ted Cruz”, Romney wrote in a Facebook post.
Utah is among four states voting Tuesday.
Romney is seeking to deny Trump the nomination, saying he was “repulsed” by the “racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence” that have become associated with his candidacy. “This is just the old establishment trying again to game the political system, but John Kasich’s defeated the Republican establishment his entire career”, the campaign said.
Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich speaks at a town hall event at Utah Valley University, Friday, March 18, 2016, in Orem, Utah.
Romney says that he would have voted for Kasich in OH, but warned that supporting him now will only fuel Trump’s chances of winning the nomination.
Other campaigns reacted less kindly: A few minutes after Romney made his news, Kasich’s chief strategist, John Weaver, tweeted: “Good to know Ted Cruz is the establishment, K-Street backed candidate. Polls suggest either one of them would best Trump in a one-on-one contest. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has endorsed Cruz, as well.
Romney has been crusading against Trump since the start of March, when the 2012 GOP nominee gave a speech denouncing his own party’s leading candidate.
Clinton has a lead of more than 300 pledged delegates.
Where did Marco Rubio go wrong? Arizona’s 58 delegates are winner-take-all, while Utah’s 40 delegates are awarded proportionally.
“Presidential campaigns are multi-tasking ventures”, David Carney, a campaign veteran who advised former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in his 2012 presidential run but who is unaffiliated this year, said by email.
“It’s about delegates, numbers and math”, said Carney.
Trump’s favorables are also higher than Cruz’s or Kasich’s ratings.
In a video accompanying the polling release, Emerson College Polling Society adviser Spencer Kimball called Trump’s towering over Cruz and Kasich a “commanding lead”. “Cruz and I encourage others to do so as well, so that we can have an open convention and nominate a Republican”. “Trump gets his voters early”. “No wonder he lost!”, Trump said on Twitter.
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Just a handful of states will vote between now and mid-April, a reprieve for opponents. “That’s not going to change”, said James Henson, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and director of the Texas Politics Project. “And frankly I don’t think anybody’s going to have enough delegates to get to the convention”, he said to a group of reporters. If Kasich wants a contested convention, Bernstein point out, he needs Cruz to win those delegates.
