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Cruz Woos Indiana Republicans, Emphasizes Jobs, Freedom, Security

Brandon Smith

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz Thursday made his pitch to state party leaders and donors, one day after Donald Trump addressed a rally of thousands in Indianapolis. 

Cruz delivered the keynote speech at the state Republicans’ spring fundraising dinner.

The focus of Cruz’s speech – and, he says, the focus of the election – is jobs, freedom and security. 

The theme is what Cruz deemed the “leviathan” of the federal government.

“If I’m elected president, we will repeal every word of Obamacare,” he says. “We’ll pass a simple flat tax and we will abolish the IRS.”

Cruz also pledged to spend a lot of time in Indiana as the race for the Republican nomination draws close to an end– a race, he says, in which there are only two candidates with a viable path to victory, he and Donald Trump.

“If Donald is our nominee, it means we lose and we lose by double-digits,” he says. “And if we’re losing by double-digits, it means we lose the Senate, it means we could lose the House, it means that if Hillary is our president we lose the Supreme Court for a generation.”

In a statement, the Indiana Democratic Party says Cruz is “out-of-touch” and puts his ideology ahead of the nation’s well-being.  

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
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