Ted Cruz was booed after failing to endorse Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, during a speech at the GOP convention in Cleveland.
The Texas Senator only went as far as congratulating Donald Trump who had been his bitter rival in the primary contests.
Angry chants of “We want Trump!” and “Endorse Trump!” grew louder as Ted Cruz came to the end of his speech.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence then took centre stage to give his vice-presidential acceptance speech.
Mike Pence praised Donald Trump’s record as a businessman and said the country had “but one choice” in November.
“It’s change versus the status quo, and when Donald Trump is president, the change will be huge,” he said.
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Ted Cruz is likely to steal the headlines after stoking the rage of the convention, to such an extent that his wife Heidi had to be escorted from the floor.
In his speech, Ted Cruz told supporters to “vote [with] their conscience” and not to stay at home for the general election.
Ted Cruz finished second to Donald Trump in the delegate count during a campaign that featured personal attacks by the New York tycoon on Cruz’s wife and father.
The boos that drowned him out stopped when Donald Trump entered the convention hall before Ted Cruz had finished speaking.
Donald Trump later said he knew Ted Cruz would not endorse him but had let him speak anyway.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said his actions were “awful” and New York Congressman Peter King called the speech “disgraceful”.
The drama came at the end of the day when the Republicans tried to finally put the plagiarism scandal behind them.
Melania Trump faced accusations of copying after it was discovered that lines in her remarks matched almost word for word a convention speech delivered by Michelle Obama in 2008.
After initial denials from the campaign, Meredith McIver, a Trump Organization employee, admitted her role in writing the speech and apologized for the “chaos I have caused”.
Thursday night is the main event of the four-day event – Donald Trump’s acceptance speech.
John Kasich has decided to suspend his presidential campaign after struggling to gain traction against Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
The Ohio governor did not have a path to secure the nomination outright, but pledged to lobby for his candidacy during the Republican convention in July.
Donald Trump holds a commanding lead and is closing in on the nomination.
Despite being a popular governor, John Kasich only won his home state.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race on May 3 after losing to Donald Trump in the Indiana primary.
John Kasich canceled events in Washington and announced an evening event in his home state on May 4.
Earlier, John Kasich released a Star-Wars themed advert describing himself as the “only hope” against Donald Trump.
Blocking from winning the nomination outright, John Kasich and Ted Cruz had hoped to force a contested convention, in which party officials, not voters, choose for the nominee.
Now it is all but certain Donald Trump will have the 1,237 delegates needed to become the nominee before the July convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
John Kasich had been widely seen as the most moderate and electable Republican candidate and polled well against Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.
However, John Kasich’s general election strength did not garner him enough support among Republican primary voters.
The Ohio governor promoted an optimistic message while campaigning, shunning negative attacks against other candidates.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who dropped out in March, garnered more delegates than John Kasich during primary elections.
Ted Cruz and John Kasich had announced an alliance to stop Donald Trump and “to ensure that we nominate a Republican who can unify the Republican Party and win in November” prior to the Indiana, New Mexico and Oregon state primaries, but that quickly crumbled.
Republicans are now divided over whether to support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee.
John Kasich’s name has been floated as a possible vice presidential pick but he has denied that he would accept a nomination.
Donald Trump’s victory in Indiana has made him the Republican presidential nominee as rival Ted Cruz has been forced to pull out from the race.
The New York businessman, unpopular with many in his own party, now has a clear path to the 1,237 delegates needed to claim his party’s crown.
That would mark a stunning victory for a businessman few took seriously when he launched his campaign in 2015.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders has defeated Hillary Clinton in Indiana’s Democratic race.
Bernie Sanders trails Hillary Clinton in the all-important delegate count but after this victory he said the contest was still alive.
“Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over. They’re wrong,” he said.
Ted Cruz’s advisers had targeted Indiana as the Texas senator’s best hope of halting Donald Trump’s march to the nomination.
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“We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path,” Ted Cruz told supporters in Indiana.
Ted Cruz’s departure means Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee, with plenty of state contests this month and next to reach the 1,237 delegates required to win.
Donald Trump is the first nominee since Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 to lack any previous experience of elected office.
Ohio Governor John Kasich has vowed to remain in the Republican race, but trails far behind Donald Trump in terms of delegates.
“It is a beautiful thing to watch, and a beautiful thing to behold,” Donald Trump said during a victory speech in Indiana.
“We are going to make America great again.”
Donald Trump praised Ted Cruz as a “tough, smart competitor”, which marked a sharp reversal in tone after a day when the two men slung mud at each other from close quarters.
The verbal attacks reached a new level of intensity when Ted Cruz attacked Donald Trump as a “pathological liar” and “serial philanderer”.
That was provoked by a bizarre claim from Donald Trump that Ted Cruz’s father was linked to one of the most traumatic episodes in US history, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
It is now increasingly likely that Donald Trump will face Hillary Clinton in the autumn in the battle to succeed President Barack Obama, who will be leaving the White House after two terms.
However, Republicans have expressed reservations about Donald Trump’s outspoken remarks, which have offended women and Hispanics.
There are also concerns about some of Donald Trump’s policies on immigration and national security, like building a wall on the southern US border paid for by Mexico, a ban on Muslims coming to the US and the killing of the families of terrorists.
Ted Cruz has warned that America would “plunge into an abyss” if it elected Donald Trump.
The Texas senator spoke after Donald Trump suggested his father was connected to the man who killed President John F. Kennedy.
Donald Trump is poised to deliver a crushing blow to Ted Cruz as Indiana votes in the latest primary.
Ted Cruz’s advisers had targeted Indiana as the senator’s best hope of halting Donald Trump’s march to the nomination.
However, polls show Donald Trump with a sizeable lead in the mid-western state.
Ted Cruz attacked Donald Trump on May 3, calling the New York billionaire “totally amoral,” “a pathological liar” and “a serial philanderer”.
Responding, Donald Trump said “Ted Cruz is a desperate candidate trying to save his failing campaign.
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“It is no surprise he has resorted to his usual tactics of over-the-top rhetoric that nobody believes.”
Ted Cruz and fellow candidate John Kasich are hoping to force a contested convention where party officials, not voters, choose the nominee.
If Donald Trump wins Indiana, he will likely reach the required 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination and avoid such a scenario.
Meanwhile in the Democratic battle, polls show Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders locked in a tight race in Indiana.
However, a Bernie Sanders win in Indiana would do little to erase Hillary Clinton’s commanding lead.
The Clinton campaign has shifted its focus to other states, opting not to actively campaign or spend money in Indiana.
Donald Trump told supporters on May 3 that he is eager turn his attention to the general election.
“You know if we win it’s over, and then I can focus,” he said at a campaign rally in the state.
Ted Cruz cannot get enough delegates to win the nomination outright, but hopes he can still deprive Donald Trump of a majority.
The third Republican candidate, John Kasich, is no longer campaigning in Indiana.
John Kasich and Ted Cruz reached a deal last month to coordinate their strategies against Donald Trump, a move which prompted Trump to label them “desperate”.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence has backed Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, four days before the state’s GOP primary.
Campaigning on April 29, Ted Cruz praised the governor, saying he would enthusiastically welcome his support.
Indiana’s primary on May 3 is Ted Cruz’s best chance to stem the momentum of Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has won a string of states, taking him closer to being the nominee.
However, if Donald Trump does not win 1,237 delegates, there will be a contested Republican convention in July.
This would mean the delegates – local party activists and senior GOP officials – being free to pick an alternative candidate like Ted Cruz or the third candidate John Kasich.
It has been an eventful week for Ted Cruz, taking a beating in five state primaries, picking Carly Fiorina as his running mate and then being called “Lucifer” by ex-House Speaker John Boehner.
Governor Mike Pence made his announcement on radio on April 29, saying the Texas senator was the best conservative among “three good men”.
Ted Cruz has named Carly Fiorina as his running mate, in the event he becomes the GOP nominee at a campaign event in Indianapolis on April 27.
He called Carly Fiorina a “consistent, courageous fighter”.
The former presidential candidate is the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
Carly Fiorina dropped out of the presidential race after a poor showing at the New Hampshire primary.
She has been an active supporter for Texas Senator Ted Cruz on the campaign trail.
The early announcement is unusual because vice-presidential picks are not normally decided until after a candidate secures the nomination.
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“Over and over again, Carly has shattered glass ceilings,” Ted Cruz said.
Carly Fiorina could help Ted Cruz in his battle against front-runner Donald Trump, who has made disparaging comments about women – including her.
“Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?” he said.
Carly Fiorina responded: “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.”
Ted Cruz alluded to this exchange in introducing Carly Fiorina in Indiana, saying she handled it with “grace and class”.
While at Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina laid off 30,000 people and was fired by the company’s board, though she has argued that her leadership “saved” the company.
Carly Fiorina also had a failed bid for a California Senate seat.
Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump called the move desperate.
While addressing the crowd, Carly Fiorina broke into song.
She sang about Ted Cruz’s daughters and their times together on the Cruz campaign bus.
“Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two sides of the same coin,” Carly Fiorina said, and Ted Cruz’s presidential bid is not over yet, despite what “the media says”.
Republican presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and John Kasich have announced they will now co-ordinate strategies against rival Donald Trump.
Ted Cruz has said he will cut campaigning in the Oregon and New Mexico primaries to help John Kasich, while the latter will give Ted Cruz a “clear path” in Indiana.
Donald Trump responded to his rivals saying they were “totally desperate” and “mathematically dead”.
The New York businessman has a clear lead in delegates but may still fall short of the 1,237 needed to win outright.
If Donald Trump does not reach the target, the vote will go to a contested convention – where a different nominee may emerge through negotiations among party figures.
John Kasich and Ted Cruz announced their move in near-simultaneous statements.
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Ted Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, said: “Having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket in November would be a sure disaster for Republicans. Not only would Trump get blown out by [Hillary] Clinton or [Bernie] Sanders, but having him as our nominee would set the party back a generation.”
John Weaver, John Kasich’s strategist, said in a statement released on the candidate’s site: “Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee.”
Some Republican strategists have been urging this deal for weeks but analysts say it may now have come too late to stop Donald Trump.
In response, Donald Trump tweeted: “Wow, just announced that Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!
“Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!”
Donald Trump has frequently said the GOP nomination process is “rigged” to favor establishment figures against him.
However, the Republican frontrunner did last week promise to change his image, in a closed-door meeting with GOP leaders.
The Indiana primary is on May 3, Oregon is on May 17, with New Mexico on June 7.
However, before those comes voting in five north-eastern states where Donald Trump is heavily favored.
Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware all vote on April 26.
Campaigning in Maryland on April 24, Donald Trump said he was confident of avoiding a contested convention.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders spoke to a rally of 14,000 supporters in New Haven, Connecticut, on April 24, again accusing rival Hillary Clinton of earning money through “speeches behind closed doors on Wall Street”.
Hillary Clinton retains a clear lead in delegates and will hope the north-eastern state votes will effectively put an end to Bernie Sanders’ dogged campaign.
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have traded increasingly hostile remarks in recent weeks.
However, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said: “Regardless of the intensity of what’s played out here… we are going to be unified.”
Ted Cruz has won all 14 delegates in contention at a state party convention in Wyoming.
The delegates were chosen by Republican members rather than ordinary voters.
Ted Cruz’s rival Donald Trump – who did not actively campaign in the state – remains the Republican front-runner overall.
However, Donald Trump could fall short of the number of delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination for the November presidential election.
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That would mean a contested convention where voting for candidates starts again from scratch.
Donald Trump is concentrating on New York, which holds a key primary on April 19.
A number of senior Republican leaders have backed Ted Cruz, a Conservative Texas senator, fearing that Donald Trump’s controversial comments make him a weak candidate in the November election.
The result from the Wyoming contest brings Ted Cruz’s tally from 545 to 559 delegates. Donald Trump has 743.
In his victory speech on April 16, Ted Cruz said: “If you don’t want to see Donald Trump as the nominee, if you don’t want to hand the general (election) to Hillary Clinton, which is what a Trump nomination does, then I ask you to please support the men and women on this slate.”
In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton is still ahead of her only remaining rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Paul Ryan has officially ruled out his 2016 presidential bid as Republican candidate.
The Speaker of the House said: “I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination.”
Paul Ryan’s name was floated as a late contender if there is a contested convention in July, as doubts persist over the strength of the candidates.
If Donald Trump, John Kasich nor Ted Cruz is able to win 1,237 delegates, the convention will be contested.
The state-by-state primary contests, which come to New York next week, determine the number of delegates pledged to a particular candidate.
Donald Trump is still well ahead in the number of delegates accumulated but may fall short of the magic number required.
At a contested convention, the delegates are free after the first ballot to back whom they want, opening the door for Texas Senator Ted Cruz or even the third candidate in the race, John Kasich.
Some in the party had hoped Paul Ryan would emerge as a candidate at that stage, believing he would be a more effective and less divisive figure than Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
Speaking at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, Paul Ryan – who ran as Mitt Romney’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election – ruled himself out unequivocally.
Some commentators were quick to point out that Paul Ryan said he did not want to run for Speaker of the House in 2015 before eventually accepting the job.
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has won the Wyoming primaries after beating rival Hillary Clinton.
The state’s 14 delegates will be awarded proportionally. Bernie Sanders has won seven of the latest eight states.
However, Hillary Clinton maintains a clear lead in the overall race. Both are concentrating their efforts on the key New York primary later this month.
In the Republican race, Ted Cruz hopes to pick up more delegates in Colorado.
In state assemblies which culminated on April 8, Ted Cruz won 21 delegates to just two for Donald Trump, who still has a comfortable lead in the overall nomination race for the Republicans.
On April, a further 13 delegates are at stake at the Colorado Republican Convention.
Ted Cruz has 520 Republican delegates to 743 for Donald Trump. Ted Cruz is hoping to win at least enough votes to block an outright win for Donald Trump and force a decision at the party’s convention in July.
The next big prize for both parties is the New York primaries on April 19: 291 delegates are at stake for the Democrats and 95 for Republicans.
Despite April 9 win in the Wyoming caucuses, Bernie Sanders still has only 1,061 delegates to 1,749 for Hillary Clinton, when the latter’s 469 superdelegates are added to the tally. To win, a candidate needs 2,383.
The presidential election itself, on November 8, will see America vote for a successor to Barack Obama, a Democratic president standing down after two terms in office which have seen the Republicans take control of both houses of Congress.
Ted Cruz has won the Wisconsin primary for the Republican presidential nomination.
In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders scored a strong victory over Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin.
Donald Trump is still the frontrunner in the Republican field, but could fall short of the number of delegates needed to secure the party’s nomination.
His rivals have pinned their hopes on a contested convention.
At a contested convention, GOP leaders, not voters, would choose the nominee.
Donald Trump said on April 5 he would prevail despite the loss and took aim at his rival.
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“Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet – he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination,” the Trump campaign said in a statement.
GOP leaders are concerned that Donald Trump would be a weak candidate in the general election and could harm other Republicans lawmakers on the ballot.
Polls show that the real estate tycoon is extremely unpopular among key voting blocs including women, Latinos and young people.
On the Democratic side, Wisconsin adds to a recent spate of wins by Bernie Sanders campaign, giving the Vermont senator a boost before key races in New York and Pennsylvania.
Bernie Sanders won nearly every county in the state except Milwaukee, but as delegates are awarded proportionally he will not gain a significant advantage over Hillary Clinton.
Of the 86 Wisconsin delegates, Bernie Sanders is on course for at least 44, but Hillary Clinton will have at least 28.
Addressing supporters in Wyoming, which holds its primary on April 9, Bernie Sanders stressed momentum was on his side and that his outsider candidacy could change the status quo.
“Real change never takes place from the top down; it always takes place from the bottom up,” he told supporters.
Hillary Clinton still holds a sizeable lead and most analysts say she will eventually become the Democratic nominee despite her recent losses.
While Tuesday’s loss was a setback for Donald Trump, his campaign has time to rebound
The campaign now moves to large north-eastern states, where polls show Donald Trump holds significant leads.
Donald Trump’s loss in Wisconsin comes after a rocky week for the campaign, particularly with female voters.
He repeatedly struggled to articulate his position on abortion. At one point, he called for women to be punished for having abortions, then quickly changed his mind.
Meanwhile, outside groups opposed to Donald Trump’s nomination stepped up their efforts in Wisconsin, running negative television adverts.
Popular state leaders such as Governor Scott Walker and influential talk radio program hosts also opposed the Trump campaign and threw their support behind Ted Cruz.
Donald Trump has said he would cut off money sent to Mexico to force them to pay for a border wall with the US.
In a memo to the Washington Post, the Republican presidential hopeful says he would threaten to change a law to cut off cash transfers.
The prospect of losing a vital source of income would force Mexico into a “one-time payment” of $5-10 billion, says Donald Trump.
Voters in Wisconsin are picking their presidential candidates.
They are going to the polls in a vote that could reshape the Republican race, with front-runner Donald Trump facing a strong challenge from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Asked about the memo at a campaign stop in Wisconsin, Donald Trump said he stood by it.
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“Absolutely, 100%,” he told reporters.
“The wall is a fraction of the kind of money in many ways that Mexico takes from the US.”
Building a border wall with Mexico has been a core message of Donald Trump’s campaign but until now he has not said in much detail how he would make Mexico pay for it.
Mexico’s central bank said that money sent home from overseas hit nearly $24.8 billion in 2015, more than its oil revenues.
The law Donald Trump wishes to changes, as outlined in his memo, is part of the US Patriot Act – he would stop anyone living illegally in the US from sending money overseas.
Just the threat of enacting this would make Mexico “immediately protest,” the Trump memo reads, and they would be compelled to pay for the wall.
Donald Trump also proposed raising visa fees and cancelling visas for Mexicans.
If Ted Cruz wins in Wisconsin, as polls suggest, it will help him close the gap on Donald Trump in the all-important delegate count.
Delegates represent their states at the GOP’s convention in July and are accumulated by the votes in each state.
A Wisconsin defeat would make it is far less likely that Donald Trump will have the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination.
It would raise questions about the strength of his campaign, after a week of adverse headlines.
Donald Trump’s unpopularity with sections of his party means he could be deprived of the nomination at the summer convention if he does not get the number he needs.
Currently, Donald Trump has 735 delegates, Ted Cruz 461 and Ohio Governor John Kasich 143.
Donald Trump has dropped his pledge to support the GOP candidate if he does not win the Republican nomination for the November election.
His rivals, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, refused to say outright whether they would unite behind a nominee.
All the Republican candidates signed a loyalty pledge last November.
It is the latest sign of friction between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who have been embroiled in a dispute involving each other’s wives.
A committee supporting Ted Cruz published a photo of Donald Trump’s wife Melania from 2000. In retaliation, Donald Trump tweeted an unflattering picture of Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi.
Asked by CNN about the dispute, Donald Trump said of Ted Cruz: “He started it.”
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CNN presenter Anderson Cooper replied, said: “But, sir, with all due respect, that’s the argument of a five-year-old.”
“No, it’s not,” said Donald Trump.
Donald Trump claims he has been “treated very unfairly” in the campaign.
To a question about whether he maintained his loyalty pledge from last November, Donald Trump said: “No, I do not anymore.”
Earlier, when asked the same question, Ted Cruz did not give a direct answer but said: “I am not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family.”
He went on: “Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We are going to beat him.”
Donald Trump later replied, saying he did not need Ted Cruz’s support: “I have tremendous support right now from the people.”
The New York tycoon has been repeatedly criticized by his rivals and observers for a campaign that has included personal attacks at rivals and criticism and violence against protesters.
Despite the numerous recent controversies surrounding him, Donald Trump is currently well ahead in the Republican race with 739 delegates to Ted Cruz’s 465.
John Kasich is some way behind with 143, with the 1,237 needed to win the nomination probably out of his reach.
The three candidates have campaigned in Wisconsin ahead of April 5 primary there.
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz’s feud is becoming increasingly personal, with the Texas senator accusing “sleazy Donald” of spreading rumors.
Ted Cruz told reporters that Donald Trump was behind a story in the National Enquirer that alleged Cruz has had extramarital affairs.
The Texas senator called the story “garbage, complete and utter lies”.
“It is a tabloid smear and it has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen.”
As evidence that Donald Trump planted the story, Ted Cruz pointed out that the only person quoted by name in the Enquirer story was Roger Stone, a former top adviser to the Trump campaign.
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Ted Cruz also noted that Donald Trump and National Enquirer CEO David Pecker are close friends.
Asked whether he would still support Donald Trump, the current Republican frontrunner, if he won the nomination, Ted Cruz did not answer directly.
However, he said: “I’m not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and my family.”
Donald Trump said in a statement: “I had absolutely nothing to do with it.”
On March 22, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who had been on good terms earlier in the campaign, began trading insults on Twitter.
Mistakenly believing the Cruz campaign had produced an attack advert about his wife Melania, Donald Trump on Twitter threatened to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, Heidi.
Ted Cruz responded saying his campaign did not produce the advert, calling Donald Trump “classless” and a “coward”.
On March 23, Donald Trump continued, posting an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz on Twitter.
Ted Cruz responded, calling Donald Trump a “sniveling coward” and told him to “leave Heidi the hell alone”.
Jeb Bush has decided to endors Texas Senator Ted Cruz for president, calling him a “principled conservative”.
The former governor of Florida dropped out of the Republican race last month after poor showings in state contests.
Jeb Bush said Ted Cruz has shown the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, like in Utah on March 22.
Republicans must “overcome the divisiveness and vulgarity” Donald Trump has introduced, he said.
If not, the GOP will certainly lose the White House to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush wrote in a Facebook post.
“Republicans can win back the White House and put our nation on a path to security and prosperity if we support a nominee who can unite our party and articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential,” Jeb Bush wrote, and linked to Ted Cruz’s website.
Ted Cruz, speaking to CNN on March 23, said Jeb Bush’s endorsement proved his candidacy had garnered support among Republicans.
Former 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also recently endorsed Ted Cruz, strongly urging fellow Republicans not to back Donald Trump.
Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, currently has the highest delegate count and has said there may be “riots” if he is denied the Republican nomination come the party’s convention this summer.
Anti-Trump Republicans are hoping for a brokered convention, in which party officials, not delegates, would chose the nominee, but that is only possible if Donald Trump falls short of the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination.
After contests in Utah and Arizona on March 22, Donald Trump has 739 delegates and Ted Cruz has 465.
In 2012, Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president, but now the former Republican candidate calls Trump a “phony” and a “fraud”.
When Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, was still in the race, Donald Trump called him “pathological”. Now Ben Carson has endorsed him.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who attacked Donald Trump on the campaign trail, backs the billionaire now that he is out of the race.
Former Republican presidential candidates Carly Fiorina and Lindsey Graham have also endorsed Ted Cruz.
Ted Cruz has urged Ohio Governor John Kasich to drop out of the race, and said he would probably find a place for him in his administration.
He said John Kasich was a “spoiler” by taking votes that could go to him and help the Republicans defeat Donald Trump.
The nasty battle between the leading Republicans worsened this week when Donald Trump warned Ted Cruz he would “spills the beans on your wife” after an anti-Trump group ran ads in Utah featuring a photo of Trump’s wife Melania from an old GQ magazine spread.
Ted Cruz said in response: “Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought.”
Mitt Romney says he will vote for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Utah caucus as he is “repulsed” by Donald Trump.
The former Republican presidential candidate said in a Facebook post that the only way to nominate a Republican is to have an open convention, in which party officials choose the nominee.
Mitt Romney campaigned with Governor John Kasich in Ohio but said voting for Ted Cruz is the only way to stop “Trumpism”.
He joins other Republican leaders coalescing around Ted Cruz.
Donald Trump has won the most state contests and holds 678 delegates – 1,237 are needed to win the nomination.
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“Mitt Romney is a mixed up man who doesn’t have a clue. No wonder he lost!” Donald Trump said on Twitter.
However, Republican leaders are concerned that Donald Trump’s controversial comments about immigrants, women and Muslims would make him a weak candidate in the general election in November.
Some also feel that the onetime Democrat cannot be trusted to implement conservative policies.
“Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism,” Mitt Romney said.
“Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these.”
Earlier this month, Mitt Romney gave a speech outlining why he was against Donald Trump, a billionaire businessman with no political experience, calling him a “phoney” and a “fraud”.
Mitt Romney’s home state of Utah holds its presidential contest on March 22.
A group of conservatives including well-known talk radio host Erick Erickson met on March 17 to discuss ways to defeat Donald Trump, including launching a third party campaign to challenge the New York businessman.
“We encourage all former Republican candidates not currently supporting Trump to unite against him and encourage all candidates to hold their delegates on the first ballot,” he said in a statement, put out on behalf of the group.
“We believe that the issue of Donald Trump is greater than an issue of party. It is an issue of morals and character that all Americans, not just those of us in the conservative movement, must confront.”
Many GOP members have also misgiving about Ted Cruz because he has repeatedly and publicly denounced Republican leaders.
However, more prominent Republicans are throwing their support behind Ted Cruz in a last-ditch effort to stop Donald Trump.
Popular South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have recently endorsed Ted Cruz.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who left the Republican race on March 15, said this week he would not be endorsing any of his former rivals.
He also said he had no interest in becoming a vice-presidential nominee.
Donald Trump won four out five primaries on March 15, but the race in Missouri has not been called for the Republicans yet.
Hillary Clinton narrowly won the state’s Democratic primary after her opponent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders declined to pursue a recount.
In a TV debate held in Miami, Republican Marco Rubio has attacked rival Donald Trump for saying that Islam hates America.
Marco Rubio, who faces a do-or-die contest in Florida on March 15, said Islam had a problem with radicalization but said that many Muslims were proud Americans.
“Presidents can’t just say whatever they want. It has consequences,” he said, to cheers from the audience.
The four Republicans heeded pleas from party leaders to have a civil debate.
Unlike in the last TV event, which was littered with personal insults, this one was more substantive with a focus on policy.
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“So far, I cannot believe how civil it’s been up here,” Donald Trump observed at one point.
However, on the issue of Islam, there was clear distance between Donald Trump and the others. The billionaire stood by comments he made earlier in the day when he said “Islam hates us, there’s a tremendous hatred”, and railed against political correctness.
Marco Rubio said: “I’m not interested in being politically correct. I’m interested in being correct.”
All three of Donald Trump’s rivals distanced themselves from Trump’s statement in December that in the fight against terrorist “you have to take out their families”.
“We’ve never targeted innocent civilians and we’re not going to start now” Ted Cruz said.
When Donald Trump was challenged on the legality of targeting civilians, he said that America had to be able to fight on “an equal footing”.
“We have to obey the laws, but we have to expand those laws,” he said.
On March 15, five large states will vote for presidential candidate in each party, with Ohio Governor John Kasich and Marco Rubio, a Florida senator, under pressure to win their home states.
Donald Trump picked up a key endorsement of Ben Carson, who last week dropped out of the race before the debate.
The candidates also clashed over President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba next week.
Marco Rubio, whose parents were Cuban immigrants, said he was opposed to efforts to restore relations until Cuba improved its human rights record.
However, Donald Trump said he was not opposed to a US-Cuba deal, but it should be on better terms for the US.
The other Cuban-American candidate on the stage, Ted Cruz, accused Donald Trump of supporting the Obama-Clinton policy on Cuba.
Republican Marco Rubio has won the latest contest in the battle to be the GOP’s presidential candidate, a day after being urged to quit the race.
With more than a quarter of votes counted, Marco Rubio has nearly 75% of the vote in Puerto Rico.
Despite his projected second victory in the state-by-state contest, Marco Rubio still trails Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
On March 5, Donald Trump called for a “one-on-one” battle with Ted Cruz, urging other rivals to quit the race.
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In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are awaiting the outcome of a nominating contest in Maine, and preparing for a Sunday night debate in Flint, Michigan.
Speaking after wins in the Republican Kentucky caucuses and Louisiana primary election on Saturday, Donald Trump told a news conference: “I would love to take on Ted Cruz one on one.”
“Marco Rubio had a very very bad night and personally I call for him to drop out of the race. I think it’s time now that he dropped out of the race. I really think so.”
Meanwhile, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – who won Republican caucuses in Kansas and Maine – said he believed that “as long as the field remains divided, it gives Donald an advantage”.
While the win in Puerto Rico will boost Marco Rubio’s campaign, it sends just 23 delegates to the Republican convention which nominates a presidential candidate. Republican hopefuls need the votes of 1,237 delegates to get the nod for the presidential race proper.
Republican Donald Trump has called for a “one-on-one” battle with Ted Cruz, urging other rivals to quit the nomination race.
Ted Cruz also suggested it was time for other hopefuls, like Marco Rubio and John Kasich, to step aside.
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz won two states each in March 5 voting.
Photo Getty Images
In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders took two states – but Hillary Clinton maintained her front-runner status after a big victory in Louisiana.
Speaking after wins in the Republican Kentucky caucuses and Louisiana primary election, Donald Trump told a news conference: “I would love to take on Ted Cruz one on one.”
“Marco Rubio had a very very bad night and personally I call for him to drop out of the race. I think it’s time now that he dropped out of the race. I really think so.”
Meanwhile, Texas Senator Ted Cruz – who won Republican caucuses in Kansas and Maine – said he believed that “as long as the field remains divided, it gives Donald an advantage”.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio Governor John Kasich have so far made no public comments on the issue.
Ted Cruz now appears to be the only candidate who can stop Donald Trump, analysts say, after a week in which the Republican establishment did everything it could to attack the New York billionaire.
Observers also point out that Ted Cruz and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders – who beat Hillary Clinton in Kansas and Nebraska – both won in states holding caucuses but lost in the Louisiana primary elections, involving far more voters.
They say that the Louisiana race also appears to have exposed Bernie Sanders’ lack of support among African-American voters.
Hillary Clinton said she was thrilled to add to her delegate count.
The former secretary of state said: “No matter who wins this Democratic nomination, I have not the slightest doubt that on our worst day we will be infinitely better than the Republicans on their best day.”
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have unleashed a barrage of attacks on front-runner Donald Trump in the last Republican debate before Super Tuesday.
They sought to blunt Donald Trump’s momentum after he won three of the first four contests.
Immigration, healthcare and outreach to Latino voters dominated the debate.
Like previous occasions, the debate quickly disintegrated into long periods of shouting and personal insults.
Donald Trump has been extremely popular despite his controversial comments about deporting millions of undocumented workers and banning Muslims from travelling to the US.
On March 1, known as Super Tuesday, millions of voters in 11 states will cast ballots.
A quarter of the total numbers of delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination will be up for grabs.
Donald Trump is currently leading in 10 out of 11 states holding contests on Super Tuesday.
He has 82 Republican delegates, Ted Cruz has 17 and Marco Rubio has 16. To become the GOP’s nominee, a candidate has to have 1,237 total state delegates.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will compete for 1,004 delegates on Super Tuesday. So far, Hillary Clinton has 505 delegates and Bernie Sanders has 71.
Each party formally announces its presidential candidate at conventions in July, four months before the presidential election.
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has won the South Carolina primary, cementing his status as the man to beat for GOP’s nomination.
In the Democratic contest, Hillary Clinton beat Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in a tight race in Nevada.
Both results will be key ahead of the “Super Tuesday” round on March 1, when a dozen more states make their choice.
Donald Trump’s victory claimed a major scalp when former Florida Governor Jeb Bush dropped out of the race.
Jeb Bush finished a distant fourth, days after his brother, former President George W. Bush, made a rare political appearance to boost his flagging campaign.
Republican senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were locked in a battle for second place in the state.
Photo Getty Images
“There’s nothing easy about running for president,” Donald Trump said at his victory rally in Spartanburg on Saturday evening.
“It’s tough, it’s nasty, it’s mean, it’s vicious. It’s beautiful – when you win it’s beautiful.”
Donald Trump’s supporters erupted at his campaign headquarters when the projected results were announced.
His campaign has been dogged in controversy, with his latest spat with Pope Francis on Christian values hitting the headlines this week.
Thousands of miles west, Hillary Clinton narrowly beat Bernie Sanders, who had beaten her convincingly in New Hampshire in their last contest.
“Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other,” Hillary Clinton told supporters at a victory rally in Las Vegas.
“This is your campaign.”
The battle between them has grown increasingly close in recent weeks, with Hillary Clinton expected to win Nevada in double digits just weeks ago.
However, Ted Cruz, who has successfully galvanized young voters with his calls for free university education, appears to have performed better than expected among Hispanics in Nevada.
According to NBC exit polls, Bernie Sanders won among Hispanics with 53% of the vote but lost among black voters earning just 22% of their vote.
Hillary Clinton’s next test will be in the Democrats’ South Carolina primary on February 27. Republicans will hold their own caucuses in Nevada on February 23.
Once each state has voted in the primaries or caucuses, the delegates won by each party candidate will go on to endorse them at party conventions in July.
Republican presidential hopefuls traded sharp blows over foreign policy and the future of the Supreme Court in an often unruly and chaotic debate on CBS News.
After Iowa and New Hampshire, the race has now moved to South Carolina before the February 20 primary.
Front-runner Donald Trump repeatedly tangled with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in a series of tense exchanges.
The lively audience repeatedly jeered and booed the candidates.
As the candidates shouted down and interrupted each other, CBS moderator John Dickerson warned: “We’re in danger of driving this into the dirt.”
Donald Trump and Jeb Bush clashed over the war in Iraq and President George W. Bush’s role during the September 11attacks.
Photo Getty Images
Jeb Bush responded robustly to Donald Trump’s attacks, a departure for the former governor who originally sought a “joyful” campaign.
“We should have never been in Iraq,” Donald Trump said.
“They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none and they knew that there were none.”
Jeb Bush pushed back, defending his brother who will soon join him on the campaign trail before the pivotal South Carolina primary.
“I’m sick and tired of Barack Obama blaming my brother for all the problems that he’s had and frankly I could care less about the insults Donald Trump gives against me,” Jeb Bush said.
Justice Antonin Scalia’s death was addressed early on in the debate most of the six candidates saying the next president should choose his replacement.
Ted Cruz said “we are one justice away” from the court reversing conservative legal gains.
Donald Trump said President Barack Obama would probably pick a replacement, but stressed that Republicans in the Senate should block him.
“Delay, delay, delay,” Donald Trump said.
Later, Ted Cruz contended that Donald Trump, who has supported Democrats in the past, would nominate liberal Supreme Court justices if elected president.
“You are the single biggest liar,” Donald Trump said to Ted Cruz.
“This guy will say anything.”
The next primary and caucus is in South Carolina next week. Other states will have their turn over the coming weeks and months.
Each party formally announces their presidential candidate at conventions in July, four months before the presidential election.
Donald Trump has called for a new Republican election in Iowa, accusing the winner, Ted Cruz, of fraud.
The billionaire pointed to the fact that during the caucus Ted Cruz’s campaign told voters rival Ben Carson planned to quit the race, which was not true.
The Cruz campaign apologized to Ben Carson, saying it was a misunderstanding.
Donald Trump came second in the first state-by-state contest to pick each party’s presidential nominee.
Next up is New Hampshire, where voters will make their choice in the Republican and Democratic races on February 9.
Donald Trump said: “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!”
Earlier, he wrote on Twitter that Ted Cruz “illegally” won the caucus, but later deleted the tweet.
Paul Pate, the top election official in Iowa, condemned Ted Cruz campaign leaflets sent out prior to voting that accused Iowans of “voting violations”.
The leaflets graded Iowans and their neighbors for how much they had voted in the past and told them to turn out to improve their scores.
Paul Pate said Ted Cruz’s leaflets “misrepresent Iowa election law” and that they were “not in keeping in the spirit of the Iowa caucuses,” but he stopped short of any official action.
Donald Trump’s reaction contrasts with his concession speech on February 1, which was seen as a humble departure from his usual bombastic style.
He called second place “a long-shot great finish” in an earlier tweet.
Ted Cruz’s camp is not taking the accusations too seriously.
“Reality just hit the reality star – he lost Iowa and now nobody is talking about him, so he’s popping off on Twitter,” Ted Cruz’s communications director Rick Tyler told Politico in an email.
“There are support groups for Twitter addiction, perhaps he should find his local chapter.”
There is no precedent for re-staging a caucus.
Ben Carson accepted Ted Cruz’s apology about the drop-out rumors, but his campaign called the tactics “dirty tricks”.
The remaining candidates are now in New Hampshire, the next state to hold a primary vote, where Donald Trump is leading in the polls.
Also on February 3, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican race after disappointing finishes in Iowa.
Republican and Democrat presidential hopefuls have arrived in New Hampshire ahead of the next vote.
Iowa caucuses on February 2 were won by Senator Ted Cruz for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats.
Ted Cruz prevailed despite trailing in opinion polls while Hillary Clinton beat Senator Bernie Sanders by just 0.2%.
New Hampshire is seen as a quite different challenge for the parties.
The state’s more moderate and less religious electorate may prove a tougher nut for Ted Cruz to crack in the primaries it is due to hold on February 9.
Long-time frontrunner Donald Trump is expected to do much better than in Iowa, which held the nation’s first vote.
On the Democrat side, Bernie Sanders is seen as having a home advantage in New Hampshire over Hillary Clinton, being a senator of the neighboring state of Vermont.
The state-by-state voting will culminate in conventions in July, at which the two parties will confirm their choice of candidate to succeed Barack Obama, the Democratic president who is standing down after two terms in office.
Even before Hillary Clinton’s narrow victory was announced officially, Bernie Sanders was up at 05:00 and aboard a flatbed lorry, being greeted by supporters in the New Hampshire town of Bow.
Telling the crowd that his campaign had “astounded the world” in Iowa, Bernie Sanders promised it would “astound the world again” in New Hampshire.
Hillary Clinton is due to address a crowd at a sports stadium in Nashua.
Final results show Hillary Clinton took 49.8% in Iowa to Bernie Sanders’ 49.6%.
Ted Cruz took 26% of the Republican vote to 23% for Donald Trump, but Senator Marco Rubio finished a surprisingly strong third, just slightly behind.
The Texas senator declared his win a “victory for courageous conservatives”.
Many mainstream Republicans favor Marco Rubio, fearful that Ted Cruz and Donald Trump may alienate voters with their combative style.
This year’s presidential candidates are to make final pitches to people in Iowa, where the first votes for party nominations will take place later.
Polls suggest that Republican Donald Trump has a narrow lead over Texas Senator Ted Cruz but both are well ahead of the others.
In the Democratic field, the race is slightly tighter, with Hillary Clinton edging ahead of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Each party’s nominee will contest the presidential election in November.
Over the weekend, the candidates barnstormed the sparsely populated Midwestern state of Iowa in an attempt to court undecided voters.
Campaigning is expected to continue until voting starts at 19:00 local time on February 1.
Candidates are hoping to triumph in this first electoral test because victory can spark campaign momentum as voting moves to the other states.
Among the wide Republican field, recent polling suggests that Donald Trump has a comfortable, though not certain, lead over his main rival, Ted Cruz.
The Democrats’ far smaller field – three candidates as opposed to 11 – appears to be more competitive.
Frontrunner Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead nationally but in Iowa she is narrowly ahead of self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders.
Iowa has an unusual election system called a caucus, which involves people gathering at sites across the state at 19:00 local time on February 1.
Democratic voters divide themselves into groups based on their preferred candidate but the Republican caucus process is more like a traditional ballot.
The last Republican winner in Iowa who won the party’s nomination was George W. Bush 16 years ago.
One issue that could have implications in Iowa is the weather.
The National Weather Service is currently forecasting a winter storm to strike the area on Monday night.
Candidates are worried that the incoming storm could prevent their voters turning out earlier in the evening.
Donald Trump joked with his supporters on January 30, saying: “You’re from Iowa! Are you afraid of snow?”
Iowan law mandates that it be the first “state, territory, or any other group” to select delegates in the presidential nomination
This first vote in Iowa will be followed in the weeks ahead by more ballots in the 49 other states plus US territories.
Each party’s nominee will be chosen by the summer, and the next president will be elected in November.
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