Tuesday was a bad day for the front-runners in Wisconsin, as Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton were both beaten in the Badger State primaries.
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Bernie Sanders, a guy who could use a winner-take-all primary right about now, won his seventh out of the last eight Democratic contests on Tuesday, but still trails Hillary Clinton by a wide margin, 1,775 to 1,115 (or, if you’re pretending superdelegates don’t exist, it’s 1,302 to 1,083).
With 98 percent of votes counted, Cruz, a conservative senator from Texas, was ahead with 48.3 percent of the vote, compared to 35 percent for Trump. He also suggests that Kasich is Trump’s main competition in the southern New England and mid-Atlantic states that vote next. Trump was exactly 500 delegates short of the 1,237 needed to win the nomination.
“Tonight is a turning point”, he told cheering supporters in Milwaukee. And it was a crucial step in stalling Trump’s march to the required 1,237 delegate majority. If we dont win here, its not over..
Tuesday’s results cement Cruz’s status as the leading anti-Trump candidate, with Ohio Governor John Kasich far behind.
Both front-runners will now be looking to their homecoming primaries on April 19 for much-needed boosts.
“This slows the momentum some, but it’s not a major blow”, said Rep. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican backing Trump.
“Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet – he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump”, Trump’s campaign said in a statement after the results came in.
Exit polls in Wisconsin highlighted the deep worries about Trump surging through some corners of the Republican Party.
There is no evidence that Cruz and his super PAC coordinated on advertising.
“With our victory tonight is Wisconsin, we have now won 7 out of 8 of the last caucuses and primaries”, he declared.
Wisconsin was once seen as a favorable state for Trump, since its Rust Belt manufacturing base has been hit by the migration of jobs to low-wage economies overseas and should be receptive to his criticism of global trade deals. Trump was roundly criticized for his recent Twitter attacks on Cruz, including a tweet that juxtaposed an unflattering image of her with a glamorous image of his own wife, Melania.
Cruz’s win comes just one week after Gov. Scott Walker’s endorsement.
But Clinton, the onetime first lady who is aiming to become the nation’s first female commander in chief, has the delegate math in her favor and can look forward to the upcoming races with some confidence.
To win a prolonged convention fight, a candidate would need support from the individuals selected as delegates.
Heading into Tuesday’s election, Trump had won 47 percent of the delegates awarded so far and needs 55 percent of the remaining delegates, according to the Associated Press. He issued a memo outlining a plan to bar undocumented Mexican immigrants from wiring money home to relatives if Mexico’s government did not agree to pay $5 billion to $10 billion to fund a border wall.
“Wisconsin is an interesting state because it elects both extremely liberal Democrats and extremely conservative Republicans”, he said. Wisconsin isn’t a must-win state for a Republican in the general election – but it is winnable, and, like Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, it’s home to a vulnerable senator (Ron Johnson) who the GOP hopes will be part of a governing majority next year.
“Please keep this a secret. Wisconsin doesn’t really change that”, says Matthew Kerbel, chairman of the political science department at Villanova University in Philadelphia.
Donald Trump’s victories in the Republican primaries may make him seem like a sure victor for the nomination.
“I wish he’d get out of one of his towers and actually walk the streets and spend time with the people of this city”, Clinton said. And the former secretary of state is wasting no time welcoming Sanders back to the state where he grew up.
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A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
