They will be the first delegates elected in Virginia, with the other 46 delegates being decided later this month and in May at other congressional district conventions and a state convention.
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Wisconsin followed a similar trend along ideology, with Cruz outpacing Trump among “somewhat conservative” Republicans and trouncing him among “very conservative” GOP voters.
Some commentators also urged Ohio Governor John Kasich, the third Republican candidate, to quit the race and support Senator Cruz.
Cruz has stepped forward as the candidate best positioned to block Trump, though it would likely take a convention battle to accomplish that goal.
The question going forward: Are Wisconsin Republicans outliers or has Cruz consolidated support in a winnowed field and exposed Trump weaknesses that will carry over into upcoming contests concentrated in the northeast?
Cruz also tailored his message to reach the mid-state region’s manufacturing workers, a demographic that could be useful in a general election campaign.
Republican Donald Trump declared it’s “great to be home” at a massive rally in the New York City suburbs Wednesday, shrugging off a defeat in Wisconsin a day earlier and instead, predicting victory in his delegate-rich home state.
But the Trump campaign sent an email to reporters, saying that the entire Republican establishment supported Senator Cruz, but Mr Trump “withstood the onslaught”.
When Obama waded in, it was only to offer implicit rebukes of the Trump phenomenon, such as his assertion in September that “America is great right now” – a not-so-veiled reference to the business mogul’s campaign promise to “make America great again”. Ted Cruz in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary, complicating Trump’s path to winning the nomination outright and increasing the possibility of a contested convention when Republican delegates gather this summer in Cleveland. “The sense of his inevitability is one of his strengths”, said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Center at Southern Illinois University. His recent gains marked the first time since November that a rival had threatened Trump’s standing at the head of the Republican pack.
Trump must win 57 percent of the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination before the convention.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon responded quickly to Sanders” comment, writing on Twitter: “Hillary Clinton did not say Bernie Sanders was “not qualified.’ But he has now – absurdly – said it about her. This is a new low”.
Sanders’ big win in Wisconsin, which brought his victory tally to six out of the last seven contests, added to Clinton’s frustration over her inability to knock out a rival who has attacked her from the left.
Though Clinton and Sanders have both vigorously attacked Trump, neither has been able to focus exclusively on the Republican as their battle for the Democratic nomination continues.
“You can’t really help people if you don’t know how to do what you say you want to do”, Clinton said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”. But if he does well in the NY primary, he won’t be far off the threshold, and his delegates will be committed to his cause.
His win increased the chances of a rare contested party convention in July.
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“And it is the liberal values of Democratic politicians who have been hammering the people of NY for decades”.
