Sen. Ted Cruz added to his momentum Saturday by pulling off a major upset in the Maine caucuses over Donald Trump.
The news follows a blowout victory by Cruz in Kansas and will bolster the case that he is the best positioned to beat Trump in the race for the Republican nomination.
Cruz coasted to victory in the state, with 46 percent of the vote, to 33 percent for Trump, 12 percent for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and just 8 percent for Sen. Marco Rubio.
Rubio’s fourth place finish in Maine, combined with his distant third in Kansas, undercuts his campaign’s argument that Cruz would get weaker (and Rubio stronger) as the campaign moved out of heavily evangelical Southern states.
Cruz, a Texas conservative, was seen an ideologically and geographically poor fit for the historically moderate Maine Republican Party. Trump had dominated Cruz in neighboring New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The loss in Maine also marks another defeat for Trump in a caucus state, adding to defeats in Iowa, Alaska, Minnesota and Kansas, raising questions about the limitations put on his campaign by a lack of traditional organization.
The Maine loss also came despite the fact that Trump recently gained the support of Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who repeatedly points out to audiences how similar to Trump he is, and that Trump should “come out of his shell.”
The more wins by non-Trump candidates, the greater the likelihood of a contested convention in which no candidates would come out of the primaries with a majority of delegates. Cruz has recently dismissed the prospect of a contested convention as potentially toxic to his party’s fortunes, however, and is arguing he can win outright if those who want to stop Trump rally around him.
