Towson, Maryland (CNN) The map weaves from hardscrabble downstate Delaware to heavily Catholic Rhode Island to tony Fairfield County boating towns on the waterfront of Long Island Sound.

Not exactly Cruz Country.

Fresh off a bruising defeat at the hands of Donald Trump in New York, Ted Cruz is now retreating to what is, at best, only barely friendlier territory: The I-95 corridor, home to five states that will vote on Tuesday. As Cruz prepares for what could be one of the biggest momentum-stopping weeks of his campaign, he is aiming to make the best of a bad hand.

Cruz speaks as then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (left), Sen. Mike Lee (second right) and Sen. Rand Paul (right) listen during a news conference May 16, 2013, on Capitol Hill.

Cruz speaks as then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (left), Sen. Mike Lee (second right) and Sen. Rand Paul (right) listen during a news conference May 16, 2013, on Capitol Hill.

Cruz speaks to reporters on September 25, 2013, after ending his talk-a-thon on the floor of the US Senate in Washington, D.C.

Cruz speaks to reporters on September 25, 2013, after ending his talk-a-thon on the floor of the US Senate in Washington, D.C.

Then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (second right), poses with Republican senators-elect Jeff Flake (left), Deb Fischer (second left), and Cruz (right) at the U.S. Capitol on November 13, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

Then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (second right), poses with Republican senators-elect Jeff Flake (left), Deb Fischer (second left), and Cruz (right) at the U.S. Capitol on November 13, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

(Left to right) Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. John McCain and Cruz listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

(Left to right) Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. John McCain and Cruz listen as President Barack Obama delivers the State of the Union address on January 28, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

Cruz (left) and then-Texas Governor Rick Perry stand together during a press conference at the front gate of Fort Hood about Iraq war veteran, Ivan Lopez, who killed three and wounded 16 before taking his own life on April 4, 2014, in Fort Hood, Texas.

Cruz (left) and then-Texas Governor Rick Perry stand together during a press conference at the front gate of Fort Hood about Iraq war veteran, Ivan Lopez, who killed three and wounded 16 before taking his own life on April 4, 2014, in Fort Hood, Texas.

Cruz greets supporters at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention on January 18, 2015, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A variety of conservative presidential hopefuls spoke at the gathering on the second day of a three-day event.

Cruz greets supporters at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention on January 18, 2015, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A variety of conservative presidential hopefuls spoke at the gathering on the second day of a three-day event.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (right) escorts Loretta Lynch back from a lunch break as Cruz (left) sits nearby during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee January 28, 2015, on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (right) escorts Loretta Lynch back from a lunch break as Cruz (left) sits nearby during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee January 28, 2015, on Capitol Hill.

Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel (left) listens as Cruz (right) speaks during a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill March 2, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Wiesel, Cruz and Rabbi Scmuley Boteach (center) participated in a discussion entitled 'The Meaning of Never Again: Guarding Against a Nuclear Iran.'

Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel (left) listens as Cruz (right) speaks during a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill March 2, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Wiesel, Cruz and Rabbi Scmuley Boteach (center) participated in a discussion entitled 'The Meaning of Never Again: Guarding Against a Nuclear Iran.'

Cruz (left) fields questions from Bruce Rastetter at the Iowa Ag Summit on March 7, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. The event allows the invited speakers, many of whom are potential 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls, to outline their views on agricultural issue.

Cruz (left) fields questions from Bruce Rastetter at the Iowa Ag Summit on March 7, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. The event allows the invited speakers, many of whom are potential 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls, to outline their views on agricultural issue.

Cruz speaks during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 3, 2013, in Houston, Texas.

Cruz speaks during the 2013 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center on May 3, 2013, in Houston, Texas.

Cruz and his wife wave to the crowd at Liberty University after he announced his presidential candidacy in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 23, 2015.

Cruz and his wife wave to the crowd at Liberty University after he announced his presidential candidacy in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 23, 2015.

With his wife by his side, Cruz tours the Dane Manufacturing facility before speaking to workers in Dane, Wisconsin, on Thursday, March 24.

With his wife by his side, Cruz tours the Dane Manufacturing facility before speaking to workers in Dane, Wisconsin, on Thursday, March 24.

Cruz celebrates his Wisconsin primary win with his wife, Heidi, and Gov. Scott Walker in Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 5. Walker endorsed Cruz for the presidency.

Cruz celebrates his Wisconsin primary win with his wife, Heidi, and Gov. Scott Walker in Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 5. Walker endorsed Cruz for the presidency.

Cruz holds up the hand of Carly Fiorina at a campaign rally in Indianapolis on Wednesday, April 27. Cruz named Fiorina, a former presidential candidate, as his running mate.

Cruz holds up the hand of Carly Fiorina at a campaign rally in Indianapolis on Wednesday, April 27. Cruz named Fiorina, a former presidential candidate, as his running mate.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Monday, May 2.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign rally at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Monday, May 2.

And the rout on Tuesday means that Cruz now must win 101% of the remaining pledged delegates to clinch the Republican nomination, according to CNN calculations , making a contested convention his only hope. Yet even if Cruz is now officially mathematically eliminated, Trump still has a traditional, even if tight, path to the 1,237 delegates required for a first-ballot win.

So Cruz's task next week is less about keeping alive his own path to the magic number -- and more about narrowing Trump's.

In a series of contests that his campaign concedes will be rough, the Texas senator is training his eyes on a pair of states, Maryland and Pennsylvania, where he sees chances to pick off delegates even amid Trump's Northeast sweeps. That could provide enough of a thrust ahead of Indiana, where the campaign is slowly building an Iowa-like pop-up operation to beat Trump on the ground.

"It is important to keep up some momentum," said Ellen Sauerbrey, a former U.S. ambassador and a longtime Maryland GOP powerbroker who is backing Cruz. "If it looks like Trump is having a clean sweep for the next two weeks , that undermines, I think, his campaign's momentum enough to slow it down."

Photos: Who's running for president? Photos: Who's running for president? Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president?



"So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Businessman Donald Trump announced June 16 at his Trump Tower in New York City that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. This ends more than two decades of flirting with the idea of running for the White House."So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president?



"These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has made a name for himself in the Senate, solidifying his brand as a conservative firebrand willing to take on the GOP's establishment. He announced he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination in a speech on March 23."These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president? Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined the Republican field July 21 as he formally announced his White House bid.



"I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support ... because I have decided to run for president of the United States," Kasich told his kickoff rally at the Ohio State University. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president?



"Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid on April 12 through a video message on social media. The former first lady, senator and secretary of state is considered the front-runner among possible Democratic candidates."Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Who's running for president?



"This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Sen. Bernie Sanders , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, announced his run in an email to supporters on April 30. He has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans to take back control of the government from billionaires."This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Hide Caption 6 of 6

Maryland has long been eyed as the closest thing to an opportunity for the Cruz campaign on an unfriendly April 26 map. The day before the primary in New York -- where Cruz had not held a public campaign event in 72 hours -- he held a low-key rally in an American Legion hall in this Baltimore suburb.

Unlike in other northeastern states, where his organization ranges from scant to non-existent, Cruz has built a real state campaign here. And much like he tried to do in New York, Cruz is planning to drill down on individual congressional districts, each of which will award three delegates Tuesday.

New York was hardly a proof point for the wisdom of that strategy, despite aides' early confidence that they could limit Trump's romp.

JUST WATCHED How Trump and Clinton dominated the New York primary Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How Trump and Clinton dominated the New York primary 03:51

Winning districts in Maryland won't be easy, Republicans on the ground here say, in a state home some of the most gerrymandered congressional districts in the United States, which make other states' partisan-rigged congressional maps look clean-cut. (The American Legion hall where Cruz spoke was in the Third District -- the library across the street was in the Second.)

"Things have been drawn in such a way that it is probably a lot harder for a candidate like that to find pure conservative votes," said Steve Raabe, an unaligned GOP pollster based in Annapolis. "There aren't automatic congressional district pockets in this state."

Cruz has suggested that he will not compete aggressively in the other trio of states -- Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware -- where Trump could easily sweep the 63 delegates needed to push him closer to the 1,237 delegate threshold needed to clinch the GOP nomination . Case in point: Cruz has not unveiled leadership teams in any of those states, even though they vote in only six days' time.

Cruz was beat Tuesday across every demographic group in New York, according to exit polls, a state similar to those Cruz will confront next week. Some states present added obstacles for Cruz: Wealthy Connecticut suburbs could be prime target for the moderate John Kasich , while more economically depressed areas of Rhode Island or Delaware are sure to be attractive to Trump and his aides.

But in Pennsylvania and Maryland, with their more intricate systems for awarding delegates, are poised to at least give Cruz some targets at which to shoot.

JUST WATCHED How does Donald Trump get to 1,237 delegates? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How does Donald Trump get to 1,237 delegates? 01:20

It was Pennsylvania where Cruz chose to greet the election results in New York on Tuesday night. Three-quarters of the state's 71 delegates are unbound, but its "loophole primary" system requires voters to cast ballots for individual delegates -- an organizational hurdle that the Cruz campaign has shown itself to have mastered so far in the GOP delegate fights.

Lowman Henry, Cruz's chairman in the state, talked up his organization to reporters Tuesday evening in Philadelphia, pledging to run "18 different congressional district campaigns." Henry said their delegates are already committed.

"We're going to voters saying: 'When you go into the polls on election day, vote four times for Ted Cruz. Vote for Ted Cruz and vote for each of his congressional district delegates,'" Henry said. "If a delegate candidate won't commit to your presidential candidate, don't waste your vote."

Cruz is scheduled Wednesday to campaign outside Harrisburg, but Pennsylvania is another state where Cruz has yet to roll out a list of the political players guiding his statewide bid. Polls there have shown Trump with a 20-point lead over his rivals , and Kasich, the governor neighboring Ohio, has been on the Pennsylvania trail for weeks. Cruz quietly began $700,000 worth of advertising there this week.

"Tonight, I'm speaking to you from Philadelphia," Cruz said from the National Constitution Center. "And we can learn a great deal about a path forward by focusing on the passionate disputes and disagreements among our founding fathers -- differences that were put aside only because of the weight and consequence of the principles they sought to proclaim and the price to be paid if they failed to rise to the task."

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But Cruz is charging forward in Maryland with more delegate targeting. Surveys there show him similarly down by double digits, and sometimes trailing Kasich, but at least four districts stand out to Cruz allies and unaligned Republicans in the state.

There's the largely rural Sixth District, stretching from the western panhandle to Washington suburbs. The deeply conservative Eastern Shore. the First District and the only one represented by a Republican. And the Fourth and Seventh Districts, largely black and Democratic, present the same chances to win delegates in places even if they have very few Republican voters.

And it's not just about Tuesday: An aggressive Maryland campaign is seen as likely to spill over into bordering states later in the calendar. Republicans in West Virginia could easily drive to an event in the panhandle, while earned media in eastern Maryland could influence voters in New Jersey or Delaware, a state that might not get a Cruz rally of its own.

That gives the Texas senator some enticement to play hard here and deny Trump from getting closer to the 1,237 delegates for the nomination -- even as some prominent Cruz allies concede he is largely in a hole statewide.

Stephen Waugh, a Maryland state senator, reflected the fairly pessimistic lens through which some Cruz leaders here say they view the upcoming northeastern primaries, only saying: "Trump I believe is the favorite, but he can pick up some delegates."

But that may be enough to keep him from arriving in Indiana empty-handed. The Hoosier State was circled long ago on the Cruz campaign's calendar. Cruz's father was there last weekend and Cruz himself will be in Indianapolis Thursday. And on Friday his shop will open a "Camp Cruz," the dorm-like accommodations they used to house volunteers for their more retail-heavy operations in places like Iowa and Wisconsin.

Mike Close, a 63-year-old real-estate appraiser here, said he's only moderately hopeful that Cruz could make it through Trump's romp of the Northeast.

"I wouldn't count Cruz out, because he's very well organized and very smart," he said as he waited for Cruz to speak, "but it just looks like Trump is still the 800-pound gorilla."