Ted Cruz notched another delegate landslide Saturday, stretching his advantage in a competition that might never occur: the second ballot of a contested Republican National Convention in July.

Cruz won at least 65 of the 94 delegates up for grabs Saturday (he may have won more than 65, but Kentucky’s 25 delegates haven’t revealed their leanings). The Texas senator has so thoroughly dominated the fight to send loyalists to the national convention that if front-runner Donald Trump fails to clinch the nomination on the first ballot, Cruz is well-positioned to surpass him — and perhaps even snag the nomination for himself — when delegates are free in subsequent convention rounds to vote for whomever they want.


On Saturday, he nearly won 19 of 20 seats available in Maine, losing just one to a Trump backer: Gov. Paul LePage. He also won all nine delegates on the ballot in three Minnesota congressional districts, picking up support in the lone state won by Marco Rubio. Cruz also grabbed one of three delegates in South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, while the other two went to an uncommitted delegate and a supporter of Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Cruz’s biggest windfall, though, came from Utah, where at least 36 of 37 national delegates will be aligned with Cruz, who crushed Trump in the state’s caucuses on March 22. Included in the Utah delegation: Sen. Mike Lee, Gov. Gary Herbert and Reps. Mike Bishop and Mia Love. Only Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, the 37th delegate, is a wild card — he hasn’t revealed who he supports.

But Cruz’s dominance may be for nothing. Trump’s dominant victory in New York last week, along with expected victories across the Northeast on Tuesday, put him on the cusp of earning the nomination without any convention drama in Cleveland. On the first ballot, most delegates are required to vote according to the results of state primaries and caucuses, and that’s where Trump has a wide edge — 845 to Cruz’s 559.

If Trump can dominate the remaining 15 primaries and acquire mandatory support from 1,237 delegates, he’ll secure the nomination automatically. And polls show he has an edge in Indiana’s crucial May 3 primary, where 57 delegates will be apportioned, and that he’s pulling away in California — the biggest prize of the entire primary season — where 172 delegates will be assigned in a June 7 primary.

In the meantime, Cruz has owned the secondary battle to elect loyalists to the convention and can only work to limit Trump’s gains over the next six weeks of primaries. Republican activists who tend to run to become delegates and vote in those obscure contests are typically more aligned with Cruz.

Kentucky, where Trump narrowly edged Cruz in a March 5 caucus, was the only delegate wild card on the day. Party insiders who control the delegate process there unveiled a slate of 25 delegates headlined by newly elected Gov. Matt Bevin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul. At the Kentucky state GOP convention Saturday, the slate was approved overwhelmingly by the nearly 500 attendees.

McConnell and Paul have been critical of Trump, but the remainder of the delegation, according to sources familiar with the list, wasn’t vetted based on candidate support. Instead, it featured a long list of party veterans picked based on their work for the Kentucky GOP over the years. It’s unclear which way the delegation will lean if the convention becomes a floor fight.

“Our process for delegates is not candidate-focused. It never has been,” said Steve Robertson, former chairman of the Kentucky GOP and one of the 25 delegates selected.

