Cruz tries to fend off GOP knockout blow in Indiana

Trump leads polls and says victory will put end to rival’s hopes of taking nomination

OSCEOLA, IND.— Ted Cruz’s conservative crusade for the U.S. presidency fought for new life Monday ahead of an Indiana vote that could effectively end the GOP’s primary season. The fiery Texas senator hinted at an exit strategy, even as he vowed to compete to the end against surging Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

“I am in for the distance — as long as we have a viable path to victory,” Cruz told reporters after campaigning at a popular breakfast stop.

With his supporters fearing Cruz could lose a seventh consecutive state Tuesday, the candidate’s formulation hinted at a time when he may give up.

Like Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Cruz is already mathematically eliminated from reaching a delegate majority before the Republican Party’s national convention in July.

He retreated to Indiana more than a week ago, hoping a win could at least help him deny Trump an outright primary victory and lead to a contested convention. But a recent poll of likely Indiana voters showed Trump holding a commanding lead.

After six straight victories across the northeast late last month, math and momentum are on Trump’s side.

The anti-Trump movement’s only hope is to deny the billionaire businessman a 1,237-delegate majority by defeating him in Indiana and the handful of contests remaining over the next month. Then, Cruz or another candidate would have to beat him when delegates gather in Cleveland in July.

“Millions of Americans are praying for this state,” Cruz said. “The entire country is depending on the state of Indiana to pull us back from this cliff.”

Trump’s team sensed an Indiana knockout.

“Indiana is Ted Cruz’s firewall. It’s where he says that it’s make-orbreak for him,” Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said. “And if he loses tomorrow night, he has to once again try and articulate why he is still in this race.”

Trump, for his part, held a pair of rallies in the state Monday. At an unscheduled stop at Shapiro’s Delicatessen in Indianapolis, Trump said, “Indiana is very important, because if I win that’s the end of it.”

Tuesday features a primary on the Democratic side, too, with polls indicating a tight race between frontrunner Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.