Sticking mostly to his stump speech, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz urged his supporters to make sure he continued his winning streak at the Colorado Republican convention Saturday.
Colorado is electing delegates to the Republican National Convention through a state convention and in votes in each congressional district. As of late Saturday afternoon, 21 votes had taken place and Cruz swept all 21. Supporters predicted he would win all 37 of the state’s delegtes.
Cruz told his supporters to keep up the momentum.
“In three weeks, in 10 elections in a row, we have beaten Donald Trump,” Cruz said of the New York billionaire who is the Republican front-runner. “And I very much hope later today to be able to modify that statement to 11 elections in a row that we have beaten Donald Trump.”
Many national observers are holding up the Colorado state convention as an example of the Cruz’s campaign superior infrastructure to Trump’s operation.
Reports out of Colorado Springs in the last few days have indicated the Trump campaign is disorganized with their delegates, often swapping out candidates at the last minute. Trump’s top Colorado official was reportedly fired in the days leading up to the convention in a campaign shake up that many believe have harmed the campaign’s ability to organize.
On the other hand, Cruz’s forces have swamped the convention. Wearing bright orange shirts, for the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, with all of their candidates listed on them, the Cruz forces dominated the state convention.
Cruz was the only Republican candidate slated to speak in Colorado on Saturday, as Trump canceled a planned appearance and Ohio Gov. John Kasich held town halls in New York. Surrogates for Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich spoke.
That abdication of the state convention gave Cruz the platform for a speech that had the tone of a victory celebration.
After making his usual campaign promises — abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, repealing Obamacare, reining in government regulations — and taking shots at the Democrats, Cruz presented himself at the heir apparent to Ronald Reagan.
“It took Jimmy Carter to give us Ronald Reagan,” Cruz said, “and I am convinced the most long lasting legacy of Barack Obama is going to be a new generation of leaders in the Republican Party who stand and fight for freedom, who stand and fight for the Constitution, who stand and fight for the Judeo-Christian values that built this great nation.”
