{"id":148366,"date":"2016-05-03T21:23:40","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T03:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=148366"},"modified":"2016-10-12T13:10:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T19:10:58","slug":"most-ready-to-crown-trump-the-gop-nominee-but-kasich-stays-in-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/05\/most-ready-to-crown-trump-the-gop-nominee-but-kasich-stays-in-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Most ready to crown Trump the GOP nominee, but Kasich stays in race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Donald<\/a>

Gage Skidmore \/ Creative Commons<\/p>

GOP leaders and many in the media declared Donald Trump the party’s presumptive nominee on Tuesday even as John Kasich vowed to stay in the race. (photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

New Mexico’s June 7 Republican presidential primary may not matter after all.<\/p>\n

A little more than a week ago, Ted Cruz and John Kasich announced a deal<\/a> aimed at stopping Donald Trump from securing the nomination. Kasich agreed to not campaign in Indiana — which we now know Cruz viewed as his do-or-die state — and Cruz said he would not campaign in upcoming primaries Oregon and New Mexico.<\/p>\n

That set up a potential Trump-Kasich battle for New Mexico that had some\u00a0thinking the state might see GOP primary action — even though it\u00a0quickly became clear the deal might\u00a0not mean much<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then\u00a0Cruz lost Indiana badly on Tuesday and dropped out of the race<\/a>. GOP leaders and many in the media declared Trump the party’s presumptive nominee even as Kasich vowed to continue fighting.<\/p>\n

Kasich’s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0chief strategist, John Weaver, said the GOP “is facing a clear choice between positive solutions that can win in November and a darker path that will solve nothing and lead to Hillary Clinton in the White House, a Democrat Senate and a liberal Supreme Court.”<\/p>\n

Asked how competitive Kasich could be with Trump in New Mexico and other remaining primary states, a campaign spokesman referred NMPolitics.net to Weaver’s statement: “As long as it remains possible, Governor Kasich will fight for the higher path.”<\/p>\n

“Ted Cruz ran a strong campaign, stood for conservative principles and exposed a lot about Donald Trump,” Weaver said. “Governor Kasich will continue to campaign and offer the voters a clear choice for our country.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, with Trump nearing\u00a0the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the party’s July convention, other Republicans declared the race over. Trump has won about\u00a010\u00a0times the number of delegates Kasich has secured.<\/p>\n

This tweet<\/a> came from Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, moments after Cruz dropped out:<\/p>\n

\n

.@realDonaldTrump<\/a> will be presumptive @GOP<\/a> nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton<\/a> #NeverClinton<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n