Republican candidates were fighting for 150 delegates, while 179 Democratic delegates were at stake in the party’s two primaries.
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And when he showed up at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus on Wednesday morning, Cruz made sure to grab the headlines: He announced the surprise endorsement of former Republican presidential rival Carly Fiorina.
According to an Associated Press tally, Trump has at least 446 delegates; Cruz has at least 347 delegates; Rubio has at least 151 delegates and Kasich has at least 54.
The governor has not finished first in any primary, but he has managed, as in MI, to quietly pick up delegates to get him to this point. It’s Rubio’s idea and Cruz’s, too. Trump won three of the contests and Cruz won one.
Possible Cruz supporters include reluctant Senate colleagues and former presidential rivals with strong ties to major donors.
In his own unorthodox way, Donald Trump is unmistakably evolving into a general election candidate. Earlier in the year, Graham likened the choice between Cruz and Trump to “being shot or poisoned”.
“He’s been supporting left-wing politicians for 40 years”, Cruz said. “But we are where we are”.
Trump’s trade-skeptical message could help him next Tuesday in OH and IL, which have lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs to foreign competition.
The celebrity businessman’s critics hope to capitalize on what they see as another inflammatory reference about Muslims.
“My kids were embarrassed by it and if I had it to do over again I wouldn’t”, Rubio said on MSNBC Wednesday night.
“There’s a tremendous hatred”, he added. “We have to get to the bottom of it”.
Trump, meanwhile, is calling on mainstream Republicans to unify behind his candidacy.
“I am asking Florida to do what Florida always does: decide the nomination and decide the presidency”, said Rubio. He met privately with Florida Sen. Kasich reiterated that an OH win would reset the race, but he declined to spell out exactly how that would happen given his poor position in the delegate race.
Florida, with its preponderance of Cuban-Americans and Latinos from other countries, has recently seen an influx of Puerto Ricans fleeing the US island commonwealth’s economic downturn.
Mitt Romney is blasting out robo-calls on behalf of Marco Rubio – and against Donald Trump – in the four states voting Tuesday, marking his most direct appeal yet on behalf of any candidate since he delivered a scorching condemnation of Trump’s candidacy last week. Trump won three contests and Cruz won one.
And with just days to go until the GOP contests in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina next week, Cruz’s tone is growing increasingly urgent.
Spokesman Alex Conant says the Rubio campaign has seven fully staffed offices in the state backed by 40 full-time staffers and “countless” volunteers.
Here’s what matters: Rubio doesn’t appear to have gained ground on front-runner Trump since Super Tuesday. “I’m pledging my support of you”.
“He’s not a bad guy”, Roman said of Rubio. Cruz is polling well behind here, in third place, but recently opened 10 field offices.
Instead, he said the “Republican political elites and numerous information outlets” are to blame for perpetuating the notion that “there is a “them” out there and an “us” – and the “them” are the folks who are causing whatever problems you’re experiencing”.
Sanders has struggled mightily with black voters who are crucial to Democrats in the general election.
The Republican National Committee has filed two lawsuits in an effort to force the State Department release records related to Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. That’s why Clinton’s win in MS, where she was pulling in more than 80% support, more than offsets her much closer loss in MI when it comes to the delegate race.
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With votes in MI still being counted, Clinton glossed over her contest with Sanders and jabbed at the Republicans and their chaotic nomination fight.
