Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is set to take nearly all of Colorado’s Republican 37 delegates as Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to struggle outside of primaries to secure vital delegates.
Through Saturday morning, Cruz, a Texas senator, was pitching a shutout against Trump, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich looked in good shape to maintain the momentum at the Colorado Republican convention Saturday, where a final 13 delegates are up for grabs.
“The Trump campaign has done little to no effort at organization to try to get their delegates to the meeting, much less in the position to be able to get elected from this process,” said Ryan Call, a former Colorado GOP chairman who ran for an unbound delegate in the 6th congressional district.
“He has really failed to build any legitimate ground game or campaign infrastructure in the key states,” Call said, pointing to Colorado’s delegate selection process and status as a general election battleground state.
“He thinks he can simply wing it, and you can’t wing success,” Call said. “You can’t show up and claim the dog ate your homework and bluster your way through a presentation you haven’t prepped for.”
Failing to get his slated delegate candidates on the ballot, Trump cancelled a planned address to Saturday’s convention. Trump plans to hold a rally Saturday in Rochester, N.Y. intead. He is campaigning ahead of the state’s April 19 primary, where he hopes to wrack up a majority of votes.
“He’s given up on Colorado,” said Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state and a Cruz supporter.
Gessler said he’s seen “nothing” from Trump’s team on the ground.
Trump “doesn’t want to put himself into a position where he’s going to be embarrassed in person by being rejected,” Call said. “He also doesn’t want to highlight the fact that he’s failed to do the hard work and lay the groundwork for success. His entire brand is about winning, and he will be handed an overwhelming loss here.”
Led by conservative Rep. Ken Buck, Cruz’s ground effort in the state has exploited Trump’s absence of a ground effort. A pledged delegate from the 1st congressional district, Gessler is set to support Cruz at the July convention. He said Cruz will sweep the state’s 37 delegates.
“He’ll get all of them,” Gessler predicted. “Cruz sweeps them.”
Trump’s campaign in Colorado has hit more than it’s share of tumult in the past month. The campaign is on its second state director, after campaign manager Corey Lewandowski reportedly fired the first for having too much contact with newly-installed convention manager Paul Manafort, with the second one having never lived in Colorado. Trump’s delegate slate also didn’t match the names on the ballot in some instances.
“Every campaign goes through periods of intense pressure,” Gessler said. “What you’re seeing a little bit is the Trump campaign is blowing up, because now they’re facing pressures for the first time. The going gets tough and now they can’t do it. They can’t survive on this.”
