COLUMBUS – It’s an extraordinary move.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich and rival Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz are teaming up to deny front-runner Donald Trump as many additional delegates to the convention as possible.
The Kasich campaign says it’ll give Cruz “a clear path” in the Indiana primary, and in turn, the Cruz campaign says it’ll “clear the path” for Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.
“Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the Party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee,” wrote the campaign‘s chief strategist, John Weaver.
“Due to the fact that the Indiana primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping him under 1,237 bound delegates before Cleveland. We are very comfortable with our delegate position in Indiana already, and given the current dynamics of the primary there, we will shift our campaign’s resources West and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana.
“In turn, we will focus our time and resources in New Mexico and Oregon, both areas that are structurally similar to the Northeast politically, where Gov. Kasich is performing well. “We would expect independent third-party groups to do the same and honor the commitments made by the Cruz and Kasich campaigns.
We expect to compete with both the Trump and Cruz campaigns in the remaining primary states.” – Statement from Kasich for America Chief Strategist John Weaver.
Trump fired back immediately with a Twitter post that said Kasich and Cruz “are mathematically dead and totally desperate.”
Lyin' Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016
Trump is expected to add to his already overwhelming delegate lead after voting in five Northeastern states on Tuesday.