Senator Ted Cruz finally dropped out of the race for the Republican Party’s nomination for president. The senator from Texas did so yesterday after his crushing defeat against Donald Trump in the state of Indiana which was supposed to be tailor made for him. Cruz stated in his announcement that “It appears that path has been foreclosed.” Adding that “Together, we left it all on the field of Indiana. We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.”
As a result of Cruz losing the last six contest which were held last week, he had been mathematically eliminated from clinching the delegate majority in the state primary process. He was hoping that a win in Indiana and throughout May would force a contested convention in July. With this announcement that possibility ended. The senator’s announcement does however make Trump the ‘presumptive’ Republican Party nominee according to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
If Cruz were to have been successful in this challenge he would have been the first Hispanic U.S. president even though he would often downplay his heritage throughout his campaign. Instead he adopted position of anti-immigration policies, anti-gun safety laws, and repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Cruz had argued on the campaign trail that he was the only true conservative in the race, building on his reputation in the Senate where he took on both Democrats and Republicans over his ideological stubbornness. Cruz had coined the phrase “Washington cartel” to try to appeal to an electorate that was pushing for a political outsider.
Cruz’s campaign had placed their hopes on turning out conservative evangelical Christians who they believed would vote for him and had previously opted out of this recent presidential election. He was of late tailoring his campaign schedule to places where data had showed there might be pockets of untapped supporters. Trump’s appeal and popularity with the broader base of the Republican primary electorate proved too much at the end.
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