Ted Cruz has won the Kansas and Maine Republican caucuses as the Texas senator seeks to use the Super Saturday contests to bolster his argument that he is the only viable alternative to Donald Trump.
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Although all 11 candidates who paid a $15,000 entry fee are on the ballot, only Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich remain in the race. In the Republican camp, Texas Senator Cruz scored decisive wins in the Kansas and ME caucuses, demonstrating his enduring appeal among conservatives as he tried to reel Trump’s significant lead in the Republican presidential race.
“The people who can save this party are Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio or John Kasich”, he said. On Democrats side Nebraska and Kansas were held by Bernie Sanders and Louisiana by Hillary Clinton.
Clinton and Sanders squared off Sunday night at a CNN Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan – the site of a water crisis that has led both to call for federal involvement – ahead of Michigan’s Tuesday primary. Four more states including MS have primaries Tuesday, with the next big contests a week later. “It’s my opportunity to revolt”, said Betty Nixon, a 60-year-old Trump voter in Olathe, Kansas. Clinton headed into these states with 1,066 delegates, the Associated Press reported, almost half of the 2,383 needed to wrap up the Democratic nomination. Sen. The senator said other candidates in the race should ask themselves, “Do I have a path coming forward?”
Clinton picked up at least 48 delegates to Sanders’ 37 in Saturday’s contests, with delegates yet to be allocated. Bernie Sanders could do well in numerous Midwestern states holding closed caucuses. It takes 1,237 to clinch the GOP nomination.
In the overall race for delegates, Cruz now has 295 to Trump’s 378, giving the billionaire real estate mogul a run for his money. “I think, geographically, we are looking good”, he said on Saturday. Republicans will battle it out in Puerto Rico’s GOP caucus for 23 delegates.
Cruz, a disliked figure in Congress, has struggled to gain support from establishment Republicans, but even his most staunch critics have warmed to favoring Cruz over the bombastic Trump. Sen.
Cruz also got a morale boost from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, where he won a straw poll, further demonstrating his appeal to the Republican Party’s conservative base.
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Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, gave sharp criticism of Trump’s campaign on Thursday.
