After sweeping his home state on Super Tuesday, Ted Cruz told supporters during his victory speech in Houston that his campaign now enters a new phase.
Cruz walked away with three victories on Tuesday, but not enough to beat republican rival Donald Trump, which has some supporters questioning if Cruz can even secure a nomination.
“It is the new phase now because in addition to winning Alaska, winning Oklahoma, he’s won Iowa, so it shows that he’s not just a Texas candidate,” Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said. “He’s the only conservative in the race. It’s now down to a two-man race.”
Patrick, who endorsed Cruz in October and was named the Texas Chairman of Cruz for President, said the new game plan is centered around a “two-candidate race.”
“Ted is the only one that can defeat Donald Trump,” Patrick said. “Seventy-five percent of Ted’s voters say they would vote for Trump if Ted were not in the race. So if Ted was not in the race, Donald Trump would be the automatic winner.”
Tom Mechler, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, said moving forward it’s not just a new phase for Ted Cruz, but instead it’s now a new phase for the entire Republican Party.
“I think politics is all about momentum,” Mechler said, “and so the momentum is on our side. I think most certainly that Texas is and will continue to be Republican, and we’ll see that in November.”
Patrick said one of the reasons Cruz performed so well in Texas on Tuesday is the record-breaking number of people who turned out to vote. According to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, 2.83 million Texas cast a vote in the Republican primary this year, more than double the amount from years past.
“It’s obvious just looking at the numbers that people are really engaged,” Patrick said, “and as Texas goes, so goes the nation.”
Ted Cruz, along with three Republican presidential hopefuls will take the stage on Thursday night in Detroit for a debate hosted by Fox News. Dr. Ben Carson announced Wednesday that he will sit it out because he doesn’t “see a political path forward.”
Five more states will have their say in the 2016 presidential election on Saturday. More than half of the available delegates up for grabs for the Republicans.
