{"id":23632,"date":"2016-05-04T08:06:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T15:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/trump-virtually-clinches-nomination\/"},"modified":"2016-05-04T08:06:05","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T15:06:05","slug":"trump-virtually-clinches-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/trump-virtually-clinches-nomination\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump virtually clinches nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS<\/strong> \u2014 In a stunning triumph for a political outsider, Donald Trump all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday with a resounding victory in Indiana that knocked rival Ted Cruz out of the race and cleared Trump\u2019s path to a likely November face-off with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

Trump still needs about 200 delegates to formally secure the nomination, but Cruz\u2019s decision to end his campaign removed his last major obstacle.<\/p>\n

\u201cTed Cruz \u2014 I don\u2019t know if he likes me or he doesn\u2019t like me \u2014 but he is one hell of a competitor,\u201d Trump said of his last fierce competitor whom he had dubbed \u201clyin\u2019 Ted.\u201d Trump, in a victory speech that was much lower-key than usual, promised victory in November, vowing anew to put \u201cAmerica first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders eked out a victory over Clinton in Indiana, but the outcome will not slow the former secretary of state\u2019s march to the Democratic nomination. Heading into Tuesday\u2019s voting, Clinton had 92 percent of the delegates she needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over. They\u2019re wrong,\u201d Sanders said defiantly in an interview Tuesday night. But Clinton already has turned her attention to the general election.<\/p>\n

She and Trump now plunge into a six- month battle for the presidency, with the future of America\u2019s immigration laws, health care system and military posture around the world at stake. While Clinton heads into the general election with significant advantages with minority voters and women, Democrats have vowed to not underestimate Trump as his Republican rivals did for too long.<\/p>\n

For months, Republican leaders considered him a fringe candidate and banked on voters shifting toward more traditional contenders once the primary contests began. But Trump proved to be surprisingly durable, tapping into Republicans\u2019 deep anger with party leaders and outlasting more than a dozen experienced political rivals.<\/p>\n

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus declared the race over, saying on Twitter that Trump would be the party\u2019s presumptive nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Trump\u2019s first challenge will be uniting a Republican Party that has been roiled by his candidacy. While some GOP leaders have warmed to the real estate mogul, others have promised to never vote for him and see him as a threat to their party\u2019s very existence.<\/p>\n

Even before the Indiana results were finalized, some conservative leaders were planning a Wednesday meeting to assess the viability of launching a third party candidacy to compete with him in the fall.<\/p>\n

One outside group trying to stop Trump suggested it would shift its attention to helping Republicans in other races. Rory Cooper, a senior adviser to the Never Trump super PAC, said the group will help protect \u201cRepublican incumbents and down-ballot candidates, by distinguishing their values and principles from that of Trump, and protecting them from a wave election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indiana was viewed as the last gasp for Cruz, the fiery Texas conservative. He campaigned aggressively in the state, securing the support of Indiana\u2019s governor and announcing businesswoman Carly Fiorina as his running mate, but lost momentum in the closing days.<\/p>\n

Cruz had clung to the hope that he could keep Trump from reaching the 1,237 delegates needed for the nomination and push the race to a rare contested convention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory; tonight I\u2019m sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed,\u201d Cruz told a somber crowd in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is now the only other Republican left in the race. But Kasich has won just one primary \u2014 his home state \u2014 and trails Trump by nearly 900 delegates.<\/p>\n

Kasich pledged to stay in the race, with his campaign manager saying the governor would continue to \u201coffer the voters a clear choice for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only about half of Indiana\u2019s Republican primary voters said they were excited or optimistic about any of their remaining candidates becoming president, according to exit polls. Still, most said they probably would support whoever won for the GOP.<\/p>\n

Clinton, too, needs to win over Sanders\u2019 enthusiastic supporters. The Vermont senator has cultivated a deeply loyal following in particular among young people, a group Democrats count on in the general election.<\/p>\n

Though Sanders claimed momentum, he has conceded his strategy hinges on persuading superdelegates to back him over the former secretary of state. Superdelegates are Democratic Party insiders who can support the candidate of their choice, regardless of how their states vote. And they favor Clinton by a nearly 18-1 margin.<\/p>\n

Exit polls showed about 7 in 10 Indiana Democrats said they\u2019d be excited or at least optimistic about either a Clinton or Sanders presidency. Most said they would support either in November.<\/p>\n

The exit polls were conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.<\/p>\n

With Sanders\u2019 narrow victory Tuesday, he picked up at least 42 of Indiana\u2019s 83 delegates. Clinton now has 2,201 delegates to Sanders\u2019 1,399. That includes pledged delegates from primaries and caucuses, as well as superdelegates.<\/p>\n

Trump now has at least 1,041 delegates. Cruz exits the race with 565, while Kasich has 152.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 In a stunning triumph for a political outsider, Donald Trump all but clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday with a resounding victory in Indiana that knocked rival Ted Cruz out of the race and cleared Trump\u2019s path to a likely November face-off with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Trump still needs about 200 delegates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-23632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23632"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}