Late Tuesday and early Wednesday made for a whirlwind 24-hours for the Republican party. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz announced he was calling it quits, after a huge upset in Indiana. Wednesday afternoon, Ohio Governor John Kasich announced he was also suspending his campaign.
“I want to thank the people who gave the money, the financial resources,” Kasich told supporters in Columbus, Ohio. “We never had all the money we wanted. We were probably outspent by 50 to 1, but we were never ever daunted in that. And we just got up every day and did the best we can.”
This leaves Donald Trump, the only candidate remaining, the Republican nominee by default. Trump still has to gain the 1,237 delegates needed to secure a spot on the November ballot. As of Wednesday he was only 184 delegates away from meeting that threshold.
“There’s very little doubt that if Donald Trump is the candidate, which now seems to be all but assured, that Republican voters in Texas will follow their party allegiance and will vote for Donald Trump,” Jim Henson with the Texas Politics Project said.
Cruz’s announcement Tuesday night shocked many people including his own party.
“Unexpected,” Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee told CNN on Cruz dropping out of the race. “I was surprised and it’s a hard thing to do.”
Henson said it has been game over for the Cruz campaign for weeks. He said Cruz played all his cards, announcing his vice presidential pick early and even strategizing with Kasich, hoping to stop Trump’s winning streak. However, after Trump swept up all the delegates in Indiana on Tuesday, Henson said it’s clear that voters just weren’t buying it.
“The Cruz campaign was having a tough time,” Henson said. “It was pretty clear that we were seeing a campaign that was struggling and whose options were quickly narrowing down.”
Those voters seemed to have had that same sentiment in Cruz’s home state. Two months after winning the Texas primary, a new poll released Tuesday by Gavis marketing, before the Indiana results were in shows Cruz falling 5 points behind trump among Texas Republicans.
Henson said the only way that Cruz would have been able to stay in the race was if there was a contested convention this summer during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. However, with Cruz and Kasich out, Henson said a contested convention is now off the table.
“Because Trump won so decisively and swept all of the delegates in Indiana, going forward it’s pretty clear that Trump is going to come very close or actually pass the threshold to win on the first ballot,” Henson said.
Up next for Donald Trump is Nebraska and West Virginia. Both states are set to hold their primary elections next Tuesday.
