UPDATE: Ted Cruz has formally announced Carly Fiorina as his Vice Presidential nominee. You can watch the video below.
After losing to Donald Trump in five primary contests on Tuesday, Ted Cruz is going big or going home. He’s reportedly going to announce former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his running mate on Wednesday.
According to Politico, after losing in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, Cruz can no longer get the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination outright. So he’s setting his sights on a contested convention, like some voters in California.
To this end, Cruz desperately needs to win in Indiana, which votes next Tuesday and has 57 delegates up for grabs. He and the third Republican candidate, John Kasich, have already struck a deal where Kasich won’t campaign in Indiana, while Cruz won’t do so in Oregon and New Mexico.
In terms of delegates, here is why Cruz is picking Fiorina for a prospective vice presidential nomination:
The hope within the campaign is that Fiorina will help Cruz in California, which will award 172 delegates on June 7. Fiorina is scheduled to give the keynote address at this weekend’s California Republican Party convention, speaking hours after Cruz takes the stage.
It’s unclear whether Fiorina has any special popularity in California, or anything. After all, she lost a senate run in this state in 2010. Cruz could be using her to appeal to the woman vote though, something that Trump has called Clinton’s only advantage in a general election.
Incidentally, Cruz beat Trump in Wisconsin at the beginning of April by courting the women vote. Looks like he wants to repeat that strategy for sure.
Cruz held a press conference at 4:00pm EST as planned. He welcomed Fiorina on board with great enthusiasm. Will this help the Texas senator’s waning chances at the nomination?
(via Politico)