Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Poll: Needing to win, Cruz trails Trump in Indiana by 15 points

Donald Trump is leading Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas by double digits in Indiana, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, an ominous sign for Cruz going into the crucial primary there on Tuesday.

A loss in Indiana would represent a near-fatal blow to Cruz’s campaign and would significantly increase pressure on him to withdraw from the race.

The new poll, released Sunday, shows Trump taking 49 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Cruz. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who has not been campaigning in the state by agreement with Cruz, receives 13 percent.

If Trump carries Indiana, which awards its 57 delegates to the statewide winner and to the winner of each congressional district, he will be far better positioned to clinch the Republican nomination on June 7, the last day of primary contests.

Cruz has mounted an all-out fight in Indiana — convincing Kasich to withdraw from competing there, naming Carly Fiorina as his would-be running mate last week at a rally in Indianapolis and crisscrossing the state.

But Saturday, he gave up a full day of Indiana politicking to appear at California’s state Republican convention with Fiorina. There, he declared that “California is going to decide this Republican primary.”

Candidates wooing local party activists often make such pronouncements, but Cruz’s trouble in Indiana — which is also reflected in private polls conducted by his campaign, according to Republicans briefed on those surveys — suggests that the remark could represent something more significant: a new rationale to remain in the race after Indiana.

Cruz’s polls show he is not trailing Trump in Indiana as badly as he was right after dropping five more states late last month, but his supporters are increasingly skeptical about their prospects in Indiana.

Trump said on “Fox News Sunday” that if he wins in Indiana, the Republican race effectively will be over.

“Cruz cannot win, he’s got no highway, he’s got nothing, he’s way behind,” Trump said.

For his part, Cruz was asked nine times by Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he would support Trump as the nominee. The Texas senator filibustered, offering reason after reason why Trump should not be the nominee, but never directly answered the question.

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