WASHINGTON — Senator Ted Cruz soundly defeated Mr Donald Trump in the Wisconsin primary yesterday, breathing new life into efforts to halt Mr Trump’s divisive presidential candidacy and dealing a blow to his chances of clinching the Republican nomination before the party’s summer convention.
At the same time, Senator Bernie Sanders defeated Mrs Hillary Clinton, his sixth straight victory in the
Democratic nominating contest and the latest in a string of setbacks for Mrs Clinton as she seeks to put an end to a prolonged race against an unexpectedly deft and well-funded competitor.
Mr Trump’s loss was his most significant setback since Mr Cruz narrowly defeated him in Iowa, the campaign’s first nominating contest.
And after largely dominating the Republican field from the moment he announced his candidacy last June, Mr Trump now faces a fresh challenge: Bouncing back in the face of searing attack ads by Republicans bent on stopping him, persistent questions about his demeanour and campaign organisation, and a single ascendant challenger in Mr Cruz.
In winning Wisconsin so convincingly, Mr Cruz, of Texas, showed he was capable of appealing to more than just the hardline and religious conservative Republicans who have been the foundation of his campaign.
“Tonight is a turning point,” he told cheering supporters in Milwaukee. “It is a rallying cry. It is a call from the hard-working men and women of Wisconsin to the people of America: We have a choice, a real choice.”
But Mr Cruz faces daunting tasks. One is consolidating the anti-Trump vote. Another is capturing more moderate Republicans in a series of primaries in north-eastern states that are likely to be favourable territory for Mr Trump, beginning with New York on April 19.
Standing in Mr Cruz’s way is Governor John Kasich of Ohio, whose poor showing yesterday came despite spending considerable time in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin was not a total loss for Mr Trump, however: He picked up three of the state’s 42 delegates, and had a chance to win a handful more depending on the results in a congressional district stretching across much of the western end of the state.
Yesterday, as Mr Cruz quoted John F Kennedy and Winston Churchill and offered himself as a unifier of a party at war with itself, his two rivals refrained from appearing in public.
The silence was especially noticeable from Mr Trump, who has often used primary nights to boast of his strength, joust with reporters or promote his business interests.
Long after the outcome was clear, a spokeswoman for Mr Trump, Hope Hicks, issued a statement assailing “Lyin’ Ted” and calling Mr Cruz “worse than a puppet — he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr Trump”.
Yesterday’s stakes were the greatest for the Republicans since March 15, when five large states cast ballots and Mr Trump’s victory in Florida drove Senator Marco Rubio out of the race.
Many Republicans hoping to defeat Mr Trump saw Wisconsin as perhaps their last chance to thwart his march to the nomination. With no other Republican contests in the two weeks before or after, Wisconsin made for an isolated showdown.
For the party’s anti-Trump forces, a victory for Mr Cruz promised to revitalise hopes that Mr Trump could be denied a delegate majority, potentially resulting in a contested convention in July.
Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton’s defeat by Mr Sanders does not significantly dent her comfortable lead in the race for the 2,383 delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination.
But the loss underscores her problems connecting with young, white working-class voters, who have gravitated to Mr Sanders’ economic message — a message he will now take to economically depressed parts of New York state ahead of the April 19 primary there.
Mr Sanders’ victory came after he had hardly left Wisconsin in recent days, pouring his energy and resources into securing a win that would help him put to rest any doubts that he could capture a major primary state, and providing his campaign with renewed focus as he strives for an upset in New York, Mrs Clinton’s adopted home state.
He used his victory speech to remind voters of how far his long-shot candidacy had come, defining the word “momentum” as exceeding the expectations set by a sceptical news media and establishment political class.
“Momentum is starting this campaign 11 months ago and the media determining that we were a ‘fringe’ candidacy,” he said.
His victory signalled vulnerabilities that have trailed Mrs Clinton’s candidacy, amid persistent criticism of her paid speeches to Wall Street banks and her email practices while serving as secretary of state.
Mr Sanders’ aides said his victory in Wisconsin signalled that his anti-trade message would appeal in areas of upstate New York that have been eviscerated by companies moving jobs overseas.
“There are parts of western New York that have been severely hurt by these bad trade deals that the secretary has consistently supported,” said Mr Jeff Weaver, Mr Sanders’ campaign manager.
Mrs Clinton appeared ready to move forward to New York.
“Congrats to Bernie Sanders on winning Wisconsin,” she wrote on Twitter. “To all the voters and volunteers who poured your hearts into this campaign: Forward!” THE NEW YORK TIMES
