WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s Republican rivals were invigorated yesterday by the front-runner’s loss in the Wisconsin primary and moved quickly to bolster efforts to block the New York billionaire from capturing the party’s presidential nomination.
Ted Cruz’s emphatic victory in Wisconsin on Tuesday night dealt momentum to his once long-shot bid to force a contested convention in July by blocking Trump from amassing enough delegates to secure the nomination.
The U.S. senator from Texas made the case he is increasingly viewed as the main Trump alternative by Republicans who cannot bring themselves to support Trump as their nominee for the Nov. 8 election.
Allies of Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is positioning himself as a mainstream candidate who could emerge from a contested convention, met in Washington to brainstorm about how they could use obscure procedural rules to their advantage when the party convenes in Cleveland.
One group trying to defeat Trump, who has alarmed many Republican establishment figures with his comments on immigration, Muslims and trade, was hopeful on Wednesday of a cash infusion to fund their efforts.
“Our funders are committed to nominating a principled conservative that can win in November and can help Republicans up and down the ballot,” said Katie Packer, who is leading the anti-Trump Our Principals PAC.
“They understand that this is a long slog now and they are supportive of our mission and strategy. I expect that we will have the funds necessary to execute.”
U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, lobbyists and congressional staffers were among those who met with Kasich advisers on Wednesday to discuss what one Republican congressional staffer present admitted was the governor’s “long-shot” bid. He has won only his home state in nominating contests so far.
Kasich’s campaign has “a plan going into the convention … and if the convention goes to a brokered convention, they have a legitimate chance,” the staffer said.
The next big test in stopping Trump will be New York, the state he calls home. A Monmouth University poll of New York Republicans released on Monday showed Trump with 52 percent of the state’s support, a huge lead over Kasich at 25 percent, and Cruz at 17 percent ahead of the state’s April 19 primary.
Trump held a rally in Bethpage, New York, on Wednesday evening where he referred only obliquely to his Wisconsin loss, saying it “takes guts” to run for president and criticizing Cruz for drawing small crowds in the state.
The Trump campaign also announced members of its New York-based team, including party leaders in each of the state’s 27 congressional districts.
“It’s very important for Trump to bounce back strong. The sense of his inevitability is one of his strengths,” said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Center at Southern Illinois University.
Cruz met with black and Hispanic religious leaders earlier in the day in the New York City borough of the Bronx.
“The men and women of Wisconsin resoundingly rejected (Trump’s) campaign,” Cruz told reporters afterward. “Donald has no solutions to the problems that we’re facing.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed Cruz statistically even with Trump among Republicans nationally. His recent gains marked the first time since November that a rival had threatened Trump’s standing at the head of the Republican pack.