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ELECTIONS
Republican Party

Trump, Cruz confront pivotal race in Indiana

David Jackson
USA TODAY

Voters in Indiana will decide Tuesday whether Donald Trump moves closer to clinching or Ted Cruz hangs on.

Donald Trump speaks during a campaign stop at the Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts on May 2, 2016, in Carmel, Ind.

Coming off six straight primary wins, and leading many polls in Indiana, Trump is predicting a win that he says will effectively end the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

"If we win Indiana, it's over," Trump told supporters Monday during a rally in Carmel.

Cruz, who like Ohio Gov. John Kasich is trying to block Trump from a first-ballot win at the GOP convention in July, is telling Indiana voters they can alter the course of the election.

"I am in for the distance, as long as we have a viable path to victory," Cruz said.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Trump and Cruz criss-crossed Indiana on a whirlwind final day in which Cruz confronted pro-Trump hecklers and continued to argue that the New Yorker would lose the general election campaign badly to Democrat Hillary Clinton and take Republican candidates down with him.

"Donald Trump is deceiving you," Cruz told one Trump supporter in Marion, Ind. "He is playing you for a chump."

Cruz tells protester: 'Trump is taking advantage of you'

The Trump backers reminded Cruz that it is mathematically impossible for him to win a majority of convention delegates on a first ballot and demanded that he drop out.

"We don't want you," one Trump supporter told Cruz. "Do the math."

Trump entered the Indiana campaign after two weeks of easy wins in his home state of New York and in the nearby states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.

Thanks to those wins, the Manhattan businessman is now less than 250 delegates away from the 1,237 he needs to clinch the GOP presidential nomination. Trump now leads Cruz, his nearest competitor, by more than 400 delegates, and Kasich by more than 800. Fifty-seven delegates will be at stake in Tuesday's Indiana primary.

Cruz and Kasich, along with various "Never Trump" political action committees, are trying to prevent the businessman from claiming the majority of delegates needed for a first-ballot win at the convention in July. Cruz and Kasich would then appeal to newly unbound delegates on subsequent ballots.

Cruz defeated Trump in the Wisconsin primary on April 5 but in the weeks since has had trouble consolidating Trump critics behind his candidacy — and he and Kasich are starting to run out of states.

After Tuesday's primary in Indiana, only nine states will be holding delegate contests in the GOP race. Nebraska and West Virginia hold elections next week, followed by Oregon (May 17) and Washington (May 24). Primary season ends June 7 with contests in California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota.

Indiana has been essentially a one-on-one race between Trump and Cruz.

Ted Cruz makes a campaign stop at the Bravo Cafe on May 2, 2016, in Osceola, Ind.

Kasich pulled out of the state late last month, as aides to him and Cruz said the two campaigns made an agreement — part of their anti-Trump effort — in which Kasich agreed to defer to Cruz in Indiana, while Cruz would not campaign against Kasich in Oregon and New Mexico.

By the end of the week, however, the two candidates downplayed the idea of a deal, saying they were simply reallocating resources. Kasich also said his supporters in Indiana are free to vote for him, and polls show him winning more than 10% support.

Cruz stumped in Indiana with the backing of Gov. Mike Pence and announced last week that, if he rallies past Trump, his running mate will be businesswoman and former Republican White House hopeful Carly Fiorina.

Trump: Gov. Pence's Cruz endorsement is 'very weak'

Cruz picks Fiorina as running mate

Trump, meanwhile, toured the Hoosier State with an iconic sports figure, former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight. He also won nods from former Purdue hoops coach Gene Keady, ex-Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz and Indiana-born ex-football star Fred "The Hammer" Williamson.

During his election eve rally in Carmel, Trump praised Pence and noted that the governor praised him even as he gave a lukewarm endorsement to Cruz.

"He said nicer things about me than Cruz," Trump said.

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