That leaves Ted Cruz. “Although it will be a grueling process, I’m prepared to do it”. The biggest prize, though, on Tuesday is Florida. Ted Cruz has 370, Marco Rubio has 163, and John Kasich has 63. Kasich has suggested that Trump and the violence at some of his rallies represent a “dark side” of American society. He earns all of Florida’s 99 delegates to the GOP convention in Cleveland, and all but ensures he will finish the night the delegate victor in five states holding primaries Tuesday.
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White House spokesman Josh Earnest also weighed in, criticising Trump’s Republican rivals for declaring they would back him if he wins the party nomination for the November 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama.
Trump entered Tuesday’s primaries embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of his contentious campaign.
“At least when it comes to this presidential primary, Florida might change its nickname from Sunshine State to Landslide State”, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, in a statement Monday.
David Eisen, 25, who owns an information-technology company and is running as a Trump delegate, said Washington Republicans who represent special-interest groups have a strong motivation to maintain the status quo. Kasich also is edging Trump, 41-38 percent among independents.
Two new polls Monday showed Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul who has never held elective office, with a commanding lead in the battleground southeastern state of Florida. “I still at this moment intend to support the Republican nominee but”, the Republican presidential candidate said looking demoralized and in shock, “it’s getting harder every day”. “The governor has not done the job, taxes are too high, you’re losing your industry”, Trump said.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton extended her lead with wins projected in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.
Cruz would probably need Rubio and Kasich to drop out, and then would need to beat Trump soundly in the remaining contests.
Trump has tried to shift attention away from the intense criticism that followed Friday’s harrowing scenes in Chicago, where he cancelled a scheduled rally amid sometimes violent confrontations among his supporters, protesters and authorities.
Trump now leads the race for delegates with 469.
Even though he is far behind in delegates, analysts say that denying Trump a victory in the state raises the likelihood that no candidate would have a majority of delegates by the time of the Republican National Convention in July. He was rushed by a man on an OH stage and repeatedly blamed Democratic rival Bernie Sanders for the protesters’ actions.
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“What we don’t have time for is for all that petty, punk ass thuggery stuff that has been going on”, she said before heading home to be with her husband Todd, who was injured in a snow machine accident. But in MI, a state his campaign views as similar to Ohio, Kasich had a late surge, winning 43 percent of those who decided on a candidate within a week of the primary, compared to a paltry 13 percent of voters who made up their minds earlier.
