The campaigns of Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] have announced they are clearing paths for each other in certain states in an effort to deny Donald Trump the necessary delegates to win the Republican nomination.
“Having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket in November would be a sure disaster for Republicans,” Cruz’s campaign manager Jeff Roe wrote in a statement Sunday. “To ensure that we nominate a Republican who can unify the Republican Party in November, our campaign will focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Gov. Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico, and we would hope that allies of both campaigns would follow our lead.”
The Kasich campaign followed their lead and released a similar statement.
“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 resource’s West and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana,” Kasich for America chief strategist John Weaver wrote. (RELATED: First Indiana Poll Is Out And Trump’s Rivals Won’t Be Happy)
“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,” Weaver added.
This is similar to when Florida Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] said his supporters should vote for Kasich in Ohio.
Trump responded to the statements from the Kasich and Cruz campaigns Sunday night on Twitter.
Wow, just announced that Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016
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
The Indiana primary is on May 3. The Oregon primary is on May 17 and the New Mexico primary is on June 7. The three combined have 109 delegates at stake.