Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sanders And Trump Win Indiana Primaries; Cruz Drops Out

Ted Cruz campaign
/
https://contribute.tedcruz.org/indiana-victory-fund

Shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, multiple media outlets announced what many had suspected for days: Donald Trump had won the Indiana GOP primary

But about 90 minutes later came the news fewer expected: Trump had also knocked his lone viable adversary out of the race

Cruz Stays, Loses, Quits

Cruz was the only candidate to remain in Indiana as the ballots were counted. Trump had gone back home to New York, Hillary Clinton had moved on to West Virginia in preparation for the upcoming primary there and Bernie Sanders was across the Ohio River in Louisville.

At the Indianapolis gathering, there were audible gasps from the crowd as Cruz announced he was suspending his campaign.

Phil Schlener, who'd traveled from North Carolina, says he wasn’t surprised by the announcement from Cruz that he was stepping out of the race. 

"I think that it took a little longer for them to come out and they were doing the math for California and figuring… 'OK it’s not going to work so wisely they decided let’s cut it off, no use to keep it going just to lose at the end anyway,'" he says.

Schlener says Cruz’s decision to drop out leaves him with a hard choice in November.

"It’s going to be very difficult, I have to really consider this -- if I’m even going to vote for Trump -- that’s difficult.  If there were a Democrat candidate that was a good candidate I would vote for them but there is none and right now I’m having a hard time finding a good Republican."

Vicki Waterman of Noblesville attended the event with her husband and four children.  She says she was taken very much by surprise when Cruz announced he was leaving the race.

"I’m shocked," Waterman says. "I wasn’t expecting that and I’m just really sad because he was only person I thought who was running and I thought had a good handle on what our country was founded on."

Sanders Wins Indiana, Still Unlikely To Be The Nominee

Senator Bernie Sanders won the Indiana Democratic Presidential Primary Tuesday by a slim majority over Hillary Clinton.

Clinton supporters at a watch party in downtown Indianapolis said they are keeping an eye on the big picture. George Howard says he's just not sure Sanders can win.

?"The math just going forward, it's not really in his favor, so I'm just hoping Hillary pulls through at the end," Howard says.

?But Sanders supporter Tess Burns is still optimistic for a national victory. She says she isn't worried that the math doesn't compute as well for them.

"I think we have a fighting chance," Burns says. "I don't think we're out of this yet. I think our numbers will surprise people. I'm not going to be overly optimistic but I'm pretty confident that we have a chance."

?Burns was less enthusiastic about uniting behind Clinton if she is the Democratic nominee, but most voters at the watch party expressed confidence that Democrats will band together at the party’s convention this summer.

Ryan Delaney works on the Innovation Trail project - covering technology, economic development, startups and other issues relating to New York's innovation economy.
Related Content