So the endorsement of Gov. Mike Pence was a welcome one.
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It’s Cruz’s second visit to Southern Indiana this week.
Tony Samuel, the vice chairman of Trump’s campaign in IN, doesn’t see Pence’s endorsement making much of a difference.
Whether the Pence endorsement moves the needle for Cruz, who’s also tried to energize his campaign (and hurt Trump) by picking Carly Fiorina as a running mate, won’t be known until Tuesday. “He has been an incredible leader for the state of Indiana”. Last week, Trump said he supports transgender people using the bathroom they want. “He may not endorse”. But you better not think I’ll do it enthusiastically, okay? “I don’t know. He’s a great guy”.
A pair of emails jolted the political world late Sunday night – coordinated announcements between Team Cruz and Republican primary rival John Kasich over strategies for upcoming primaries.
Cruz, a US Senator from Texas, is trailing the NY billionaire in the Midwestern state after losing to him by a wide margin in all five Northeastern states that held nominating contests on Tuesday. He forged an improbable mutual aid pact with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in which Kasich agreed to pull out of in to boost Cruz’s chances of beating Trump in return for a similar favor from Cruz in other states – and then denied he made the deal.
Delaware’s GOP state convention voted 370 to 8 for its proposed slate of delegates to go to the Republican National Convention.
I am grateful for his voice in the national debate. From Pence’s point of view, then, there’s little point in being anti-Trump.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence has given a somewhat lukewarm endorsement to Ted Cruz ahead of his state’s crucial presidential primary. “If Indiana votes according to their values”, Rafael Cruz told voters, “there’s only one choice, and that choice is Senator Ted Cruz”. He also praised the senator’s knowledge of the Constitution and his conservative stances on gun rights and abortion.
But Cruz has gained many enemies during his time in Washington-former GOP House speaker John Boehner called him “Lucifer in the flesh” this week-whereas Pence was “very effective in Washington”. A loss in IN would almost eliminate Cruz’s already-slim chances of keeping Trump below a first-ballot majority of delegates. Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from earning the 1,237 delegate majority, but insists he can block Trump from the majority as well, as the 2016 contest shifts to “friendlier terrain” in the West and Midwest.
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“In spite of the controversial stances he has taken on things like RFRA and other social issues, he has been a relatively cautious individual, politically speaking, as governor”, he said.
