Ted Cruz waves at a primary night campaign event on April 5, 2016, in Milwaukee. | AP Photo
Cruz: Wisconsin win is primary's "turning point"
By KATIE GLUECK
04/05/16 10:54 PM EDT
MILWAUKEE — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reveled in his Wisconsin victory on Tuesday night, calling it a “turning point” in the GOP presidential race and suggesting it's proof he can win future primary contests and the general election.
“We have a choice,” Cruz told a cheering crowd here at the American Serb Hall in Milwaukee. “A real choice.”
Cruz’s victory is a blow to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s hopes of winning the Republican nomination outright, although Cruz remains firmly in second place in the delegate race. Still, the Texas senator called his victory a “rallying cry” that challenged the notion of Trump’s inevitability.
“As a result of tonight, as a result of the people of Wisconsin defying the media, defying the pundits, I’m more and more convinced our campaign is going to earn the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination,” Cruz said. “Either before Cleveland or at the convention in Cleveland, together we will win a majority of delegates, and together we will beat Hillary Clinton in November.”
Cruz touted his Wisconsin victory — as well as recent delegate selection wins in North Dakota and Colorado and a victory in Utah — as evidence that he can appeal to a broad cross-section of the electorate. In earlier contests, evangelicals and very conservative voters have played outsized roles in Cruz’s wins.
“Four very different states — Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, Wisconsin — four victories,” Cruz said, going on to announce that his campaign had raised $2 million “just today,” and that he expects to have gained more than 100 delegates on Trump after Colorado and Wyoming finish voting in coming days.
Cruz, who barely mentioned Trump directly Tuesday night, looked past his opponent as he went on to say, “In November, for the first time since 1984, [we will be] painting the Badger State bright, Republican red. Let me just say, Hillary, get ready. Here we come.”
Cruz’s win is also fodder for the "Never Trump" movement, which had a robust presence in Wisconsin and will take Tuesday's results as a sign that Trump, still a formidable frontrunner nationally, can be beaten (though Trump polls far ahead of Cruz and John Kasich in New York, the next state to vote, and has won significantly more states than either of them have).
Cruz was propelled to victory here by a cross-section of the Wisconsin GOP, from Gov. Scott Walker to prominent conservative radio hosts, who were all united against Trump, and Cruz said the night was about “unity.”
“This victory is bigger than just Wisconsin,” Walker said. “This is the night when we can look back and say, this was the time that turned the tide of this election to bring Ted Cruz…to be the nominee of this party,” and to win the general election, he appeared to continue, as he was drowned out by applause.
National figures from the head of the conservative group Club for Growth Action to Sen. Lindsey Graham also quickly released statements or tweets saying that the Wisconsin win was evidence of Trump’s vulnerability.
“Trump Trounced,” blared the subject line of a release from the #NeverTrump PAC.
Cruz’s team invested heavily in Wisconsin, organizing across the state and building out an extensive grassroots operation, while Trump didn’t organize as heavily or spend as much time earlier on in the state. In the final week before the primary, Cruz also ratcheted up his outreach to women, aiming to capitalize as Trump made a series of controversial comments about women, including about Cruz’s wife, Heidi.
She was on hand Tuesday night at Cruz’s watch party, where Cruz, bathed in pink and blue lights, addressed the crowd. When Cruz mentioned her by name, the crowd chanted her name and applauded her loudly.
“I may be biased, but isn’t she going to make an amazing First Lady?” Cruz asked the crowd, as they again broke into cheers. He went on to add, “Every day she’s teaching our daughters Caroline and Catherine that strong women can accomplish anything.”
