Ted Cruz Sweeps Colorado Delegates

Increasing the chances of a contested convention
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 10, 2016 12:37 AM CDT
Ted Cruz Sweeps Colorado Delegates
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition spring leadership meeting, Saturday, April 9, 2016, in Las Vegas.   (AP Photo/John Locher)

Ted Cruz completed his sweep of Colorado's 34 delegates on Saturday, netting 13 more delegates at Colorado's state GOP convention, the AP reports. The Texas Senator already had locked up the support of 21 Colorado delegates and visited the state to try to pad his numbers there. Keeping up his tussle with Trump over values, Cruz told the Colorado crowd earlier that it's easy to talk about making America great again—"you can even print that on a baseball cap"—but that the more important question is which candidate understands "the principles and values that made America great in the first place."

Cruz's sweep increases the chances of a contested Republican convention this summer. Trump still has a narrow path to clinching the GOP nomination by the end of the primaries on June 7, but he has little room for error. He would need to win nearly 60% of all the remaining delegates to clinch the nomination before the convention. So far, he's winning 46%. Following the Colorado results, the AP count stands at Trump 743, Cruz 545, and John Kasich 143. Marco Rubio, who suspended his campaign, has 171 delegates. To clinch the nomination by the end of the primaries, a GOP candidate needs 1,237 delegates. On the Democratic side Saturday, Bernie Sanders took Wyoming. (More Election 2016 stories.)

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