That’s that: Ted Cruz calls end to Republican presidential campaign
May 3, 2016, 5:35 PM | Updated: May 4, 2016, 11:56 am
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
The Republican race for the presidential nomination was thinned to two people on Tuesday as Ted Cruz called an end to his campaign.
“We gave it everything we got, but the voters chose another path,” Cruz told an audience Tuesday night.
Cruz lost the Indiana primary to Donald Trump on Tuesday, despite the only other remaining candidate, John Kasich, yielding the state to Cruz so he could take on the New York billionaire alone.
With the win, it appears the nomination is all but Trump’s. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus sent the following tweet shortly after Cruz spoke.
.@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016
“I don’t know if Ted Cruz likes me or doesn’t like me, but he is one hell of a competitor,”Trump said during his victory speech after learning of Cruz’s decision to leave the race.
In the buildup to Indiana, Cruz tried every trick in the book to gain ground on Trump. Not only did he form an alliance with Kasich, but also named former Republican candidate Carly Fiorina as his running mate, which is out of the norm for a candidate to do.
The Texas senator had hoped a win in the Midwest state would siphon enough delegates from Trump to force a contested convention. But a large Trump win was the final blow.
Without Cruz in the race, the path is clear for Trump to clinch the party’s nomination ahead of the Republican National Convention, set for July in Cleveland. Multiple states have yet to hold a primary and Trump is still short of the necessary 1,237 delegates to claim, however many are reporting Trump will soon be the GOP presidential nominee.
Kasich, the only remaining candidate in the Republican race, has trailed the New York billionaire from day one and has claimed just one primary victory.