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Ted Cruz will focus on Indiana while John Kasich turns his attention to New Mexico and Oregon. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
Ted Cruz and John Kasich shake hands during the Republican debate in Miami on March 10, 2016.(Photo: Cristobal Herrera, European Pressphoto Agency)
The Ted Cruz-John Kasich alliance is finally happening.
The two Republican candidates each have agreed to cede states the other is stronger in, as part of an effort to keep front-runner Donald Trump from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>amassing enough delegates<span style="color: Red;">*</span>during primary contests to win the GOP nomination outright.
That means<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kasich won't spend money in Indiana, according to a statement emailed late Sunday night,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and has canceled plans to campaign there this week.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cruz won't compete in Oregon or New Mexico, his campaign said in a statement emailed moments before the Kasich missive.
The partnership gives Kasich much-needed justification for continuing his campaign despite a low delegate tally and gives him breathing room from Team Cruz's attacks. And it sets up both candidates for their best shot at the White House<span style="color: Red;">*</span>– keeping Trump from getting 1,237 delegates, a majority of the GOP total, and clinching the nomination before the GOP convention in Cleveland.
“Donald Trump doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans – not even close, but he currently does have almost half the delegates," Kasich adviser John Weaver said in a statement announcing the alliance.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the Party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee."
In response, Trump accused<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the two candidates of "collusion." He said in a statement: "This horrible act of desperation, from two campaigns who have totally failed, makes me even more determined, for the good of the Republican Party and our country, to prevail!" He also took to Twitter:
Wow, just announced that Lyin' Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016
Lyin' Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016
The Kasich campaign had pushed for weeks to coordinate with Cruz, but the Texas senator's campaign had demurred, hoping to catch fire as the sole alternative to Trump and pull even with him in the delegate race. With last week's last-place showing in New York, Cruz lost his mathematical ability to win the nomination solely through the primary process, increasing his interest in the deal. And Kasich is running<span style="color: Red;">*</span>low on cash, bringing urgency to the situation.
CINCINNATI.COM
Cash-poor Kasich seeks anti-Trump help
The approach of the Indiana primary, on May 3,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>helped seal the agreement.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Despite his lead over Cruz and Kasich, Trump has a tight path to winning 1,237 delegates before the GOP convention in Cleveland.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The biggest wild card:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Indiana's 57 delegates.
A loss for Trump in the Hoosier state, which awards three delegates to the winner of each congressional district and another 30 to the statewide winner, would cast serious doubt on his ability to get enough delegates through primary elections. A sweep in Indiana could all but guarantee him the nomination.
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
What you need to know about Indiana's delegates to the Republican convention
Recent polls have shown Trump leading in the state, ahead of Cruz and then Kasich. But a Fox News poll found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump's lead over Cruz in Indiana would narrow<span style="color: Red;">*</span>if Kasich withdrew from the race. Kasich's presence in the Hoosier state could have helped Trump sweep the 57 delegates.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>So the Ohio governor will ask his supporters in Indiana to vote for Cruz, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jim Brainard, co-chairman of Kasich's campaign in Indiana and mayor of Carmel, an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Indianapolis suburb.
This isn't a deal for the White House: Cruz and Kasich will try to beat each other in the seven other states left on the Republican primary calendar. But they must force a contested convention if either is to have a chance of wooing delegates to his side on subsequent ballots.
For Kasich, leaving Indiana's votes to Cruz comes at little cost.
If the nomination battle extends beyond the first ballot in Indiana, the state's rules will free its 57 delegates to vote for the candidate they prefer, regardless of how the state's voters lined up in the primary.
Indiana's Republican Party last weekend chose the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>people who will cast the state's votes in Cleveland. After the selection, the Kasich campaign claimed to have more allies headed to Cleveland than his rivals, a claim the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Indianapolis Star checked and found plausible. No campaign has disputed Kasich's declaration of victory.
INDIANAPOLIS STAR
And the Indiana winner for president is...John Kasich?
Likewise, Cruz loses little by letting Kasich have a clear path in New Mexico and Oregon. Neither offers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>big chunks of votes, as Indiana does. Both<span style="color: Red;">*</span>states have only about two dozen delegates,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>split between candidates in proportion to their performance in the state.
The last state in the deal, New Mexico, votes on June 7, the last date of the GOP primary. So the alliance gives Kasich justification to stay in the race until the end, carrying his couple-hundred delegates to Cleveland to try to compete with two candidates who will have hundreds more.
Kasich's closest allies in Ohio<span style="color: Red;">*</span>already are calling delegates<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to persuade them to vote for the Ohio governor once their state rules free them to vote their consciences.
CINCINNATI.COM
Here’s the script John Kasich is using to woo delegates
In Cleveland, Kasich<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will woo delegates by arguing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>polls show he could beat Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in November. Trump trails Clinton in polls, while Cruz generally sits slightly behind her.
Contributing:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The Indianapolis Star's Stephanie Wang and Chelsea Schneider
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