John Kasich is declaring victory over Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in Indiana in the battle to elect loyal convention delegates.
There was no way to immediately verify the Kasich campaign’s claim.
The Ohio governor’s top delegate strategist declined to offer names of Kasich delegates or say exactly how many delegates are his among the delegation of 57. And, Republican insiders who have monitored the process and observed delegate elections first-hand this past week were skeptical of Kasich’s rosy projection.
“I was in the room and can say with certainty there was no discussion of who people supported as to whether a delegate would or would not be on the slate. I get them trying to build a narrative, but there isn’t much basis,” an Indiana Republican who is neutral in the primary said Saturday, on condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly.
But if Kasich is right, it could be a significant achievement.
Cruz has dominated this process across the country, broadly outflanking Kasich (and Trump) to install loyalists on delegations to the Cleveland convention. This army of shadow delegates is presumably prepared to flip to the Texas senator once unbound from the candidate who won the caucus or primary in their state.
That’s a problem for Kasich, whose only path to the Republican presidential nomination is through winning a contested convention. He trails Cruz and Trump badly in the hunt for bound delegates. To reach a 1,237 majority, Kasich needs hundreds of delegates to vote for him, not Cruz, in a multi-ballot floor fight, once they become free agents.
“This past week in Indiana we gained more committed delegates than Cruz and Trump out of the 57 elected,” Michael Biundo, a Republican operative directing Kasich’s delegate strategy, said in an email exchange with the Washington Examiner.
“Our team is very confident and pleased with the final outcome. We believe that the delegates elected truly reflect an overwhelming support for Gov. Kasich,” Biundo continued. “As we head toward the Indiana primary, we are confident that our delegates will stay committed to Gov. Kasich and we anticipate a positive outcome.”
Of Indiana’s 57 delegate positions, the state GOP chairman and two representatives to the Republican National Committee occupy three. Another 27 are elected in each congressional district, three each, with the remaining at-large delegates chosen during a meeting of the state Republican committee. Delegate elections in Indiana wrapped up on Wednesday.
Anne Hathaway, Kasich’s top Indiana consultant, was elected an at-large delegate, giving confidence to team Kasich that it will have some muscle inside the delegation. Other members of Kasich’s Indiana leadership team could be among the 57-member delegation once the governor’s campaign releases names of additional supporters it has in the Hoosier State.
Meanwhile, the Kasich campaign believes other supporters on the delegation are keeping quiet because they don’t want to be hassled by Trump backers. The New York businessman has railed against the delegate selection process as illegitimate and “corrupt.” However, top Republicans in the state are skeptical of Kasich’s victory boast.
“Anne Hathaway would be the only definite vote,” said David Buskill, executive director of the Indiana GOP. “We did not select delegates based on who they were supporting for president.”
We did not select delegates based on who they were supporting for president. So beyond they obvious I have no knowledge of who the delegates like. If it goes to a second vote it would be just speculation on who the delegates would support.”
Trump leads in bound delegates with 744, followed by Cruz at 545 and Kasich at 144. That puts Kasich behind even Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who suspended his presidential campaign on March 15. Kasich recently brought on a team of seasoned operatives to assist him in accumulating delegates.
But many political observers argue that Kasich’s effort might have come too late in many states, a contention his campaign vehemently disagrees with. For instance, the Indiana primary isn’t until May 3, yet the delegate selection process got started months ago, and wrapped up on Wednesday. Kasich and Cruz are expected to be competitive with Trump in the primary; many GOP insiders in the state believe Cruz might have the upper hand.
