Ted Cruz beats Trump in unbound, Maine’s ‘faceless’ delegates
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is clearly beating Donald Trump with a superior ground game as a TIME report confirms Cruz has won over most of the unbound delegates, secured more support in Maine which would be beneficial after the first ballot vote.
According to a TIME survey, “Of the 63 unbound delegates who have already been named, 26 have told TIME or other news outlets that they are either committed to support Cruz, lean towards supporting Cruz or refuse to support Trump on the first ballot. By contrast Trump has the public support of only one delegate in North Dakota. Another delegate in American Samoa is Trump’s local campaign chair, but he declined to confirm to TIME that he will support Trump on the first ballot. Fifteen others declined to tell TIME their preference, and 15 more could not be reached for comment.”
In Maine, “Cruz secured 19 of 20 delegate slots filled at the state convention over the weekend. The sweep frustrated rivals Donald Trump and John Kasich — as well as Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Trump supporter — and prompted accusations of backstabbing and deception after an effort to agree to a “unity slate” of national convention delegates fell apart,” a CNN report summarized.
“It’s no surprise Gov. LePage stands with Donald Trump, he endorsed Donald Trump,” said Cruz spokeswoman Alice Stewart in a statement. “Ted Cruz stands with the grass-roots, who made our caucus victory in Maine possible.”
Top Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort blasted Cruz on Sunday, accusing him of rejecting what he called the governor’s “consensus” plan and “playing fast with the rules,” telling Fox News that the Cruz campaign’s actions wouldn’t hurt Mr. Trump “because he’s still going to have the votes cast on the first ballot and there’s going to be no second ballot.”