Cruz, Kasich Suspend Campaigns

The fate of their delegates could give Trump official nomination

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Julia Nall

Stay updated this political season with Prospective Online’s consistent coverage of the 2016 presidential election.

Julia Nall, Print Editor

Following Donald Trump’s sweeping victory in Ind., Ted Cruz has suspended his campaign and John Kasich has announced plans to officially suspend his campaign Wednesday night. According to the Associated Press, Trump won Indiana with 53.3 percent of the vote with Cruz trailing behind at 36.7 percent and Kasich coming in with 7.5 percent. Cruz announced his suspension in a speech to supporters last night, while Kasich has cancelled multiple fundraising events.

Cruz faced difficulty within the Republican party, with party leaders such as former Speaker of the House John Boehner calling him “Lucifer in the flesh.” He evolved to the level of a social media joke as a rumor spread that the Texas senator was actually the mysterious serial murderer dubbed the “Zodiac Killer”. The joke gained so much attention that an activist created shirts about the topic that benefit abortion services and the Cruz campaign addressed the matter multiple times, despite the fact that Cruz was born two years after the first Zodiac killings.

Kasich, who has approximately 15 percent of the delegates that Trump currently holds, has long been expected to drop from the campaign, as it has been mathematically impossible for Kasich to secure the nomination for some time now.

According to the AP, Cruz and Kasich have a combined 718 delegates. The fate of those delegates varies from state to state; the Republican primaries are technically still open. Even though Trump is currently the sole Republican candidate, he is still needs 190 more to officially secure the nomination.

The fate of Cruz and Kasich’s delegates will vary from state to state. Both campaigns have used the phrase “suspended” rather than dropping or officially leaving the race; this means that, while they are not continuing forward, they’re not technically done, either. This leaves their delegates in limbo. However, six states allow the candidate to choose if their delegates can support remaining candidates, 11 states/territories release the delegates to choose their candidate freely, and Alaska proportionally re-distributes the suspended candidates.

Kasich did not win any delegates in Alaska. Cruz, however, won 12, which will now join Trump’s count, raising him to 1,059 delegates. The rest are yet to be determined.

The next Republican primaries will be May 10 in Neb. and W. Va., where 70 delegates will be available.