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DECATUR -- A day before Illinoisans head to the polls, Ted Cruz said he is the lone man in the Republican field who can derail Donald Trump’s path to the party’s nomination.

“At this point, there is one campaign and one campaign only that has a possibility of beating Donald Trump and winning the nomination, and that is our campaign,” Cruz said.

The Texas senator made his case to go one-on-one with the party front-runner during a rally Monday night at the Decatur Conference Center & Hotel, telling about 1,200 people that he alone could defeat the controversial businessman and unite the party against the Democratic nominee.

He furthered that point in meeting with reporters before the rally, saying that, depending on today’s results, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio should ‘put country first’ and allow himself and Trump to go head to head in the race.

“Only two candidates have a path to the nomination,” Cruz said, in reference to his and Trump’s sizable delegate lead.

Polls in the last week have shown Cruz getting within single-digits of Trump, who had been leading in polls since last fall, with one survey showing the two in a dead heat.