Republicans voting in Indiana’s primary election on Tuesday might give New York billionaire Donald Trump an almost unstoppable advantage in his turbulent journey toward the party’s presidential nomination.
The real estate mogul holds a double-digit polling lead in the Midwestern state over his main rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
Fresh off a sweep of five Northeastern states last week, Trump wants a win in Indiana to put him within reach of the 1,237 delegates required to lock up the Republican nomination before the party’s convention in July.
“If we win Indiana, it’s over,” Trump told a cheering crowd in Terre Haute, Indiana, on the eve of the vote.
Cruz has trumpeted Indiana, one of the last big states in the fight to get on the Nov. 8 presidential ballot, as his golden moment to stop Trump and force a brokered nomination at the convention.
He vowed on Monday to “compete to the end” but a loss in Indiana would be particularly crushing for the senator, who has argued that his brand of religious conservatism is a natural draw for heartland Republicans. He won the endorsement of conservative Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
Trump now has 996 delegates, compared with 565 for Cruz and 153 for Ohio Governor John Kasich, according to The Associated Press. Another 57 delegates are up for grabs in Indiana, a state that has voted Republican in nine of the last 10 presidential elections.
“I think we’re going to have a great voter turnout and people are tired of what’s happening with these politicians and they’re just tired of seeing our country get ripped off,” Trump told the “Fox & Friends” show on Tuesday.
Top Trump aide Corey Lewandowski told CNN on Tuesday the campaign expected to win more than required number of delegates – 1,300 to 1,400.
