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U.S. Election 2016
Ted Cruz and John Kasich have agreed to join forces to try to deny frontrunner Donald Trump the Republican Party's presidential nomination, their campaigns said Sunday. The sudden alliance, revealed in short statements, arose due to the pressing timing of the Republican party's presidential primary season.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich have agreed to join forces to try to deny front-runner Donald Trump the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, their campaigns said Sunday. The sudden alliance, revealed in short statements, arose due to the pressing timing of the party’s presidential primary season.

AFP/Getty Images

The remaining state contests offer a shrinking pool of delegates. But the Ted Cruz and John Kasich campaigns have a plan: team up in three states to stop Trump. There is just one problem – the states represent a small slice of delegates, as our visualization shows

The Republican leadership contest has reached a critical stop-Trump moment.

Rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich have struck a deal to co-ordinate efforts in three upcoming state contests, where one or the other will step aside and allow a single anti-Trump candidate to campaign against the front runner.

Here is the deal in a nutshell:

  • Indiana primary: 57 delegates up for grabs on May 3. Ohio Governor John Kasich said he will no longer campaign in this Midwest state – effectively giving Senator Ted Cruz an open path to take on Donald Trump. Delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis. The Texas senator is within striking distance of Mr. Trump, according to polling.
  • Oregon primary: 28 delegates up for grabs on May 17. In this northwestern state, the Cruz campaign said it would cut back on its campaigning and give Mr. Kasich a clear path as the main rival to Mr. Trump.
  • New Mexico: 24 delegates up for grabs on June 7. If the Republican leadership race goes down to the last day – when a handful of states vote – the arrangement in New Mexico could be key. Mr. Kasich will face Mr. Trump in a state where the Cruz campaign has been pulling back.

The co-ordinated efforts of the two candidates highlight how much the Republican Party and rival candidates have struggled to stop the billionaire real estate tycoon since last summer. Mr. Trump has dominated state contests and amassed more delegates than any other candidate, and the pool of available delegates to win is shrinking.

Here is a look at how many delegates are up for grabs in the remaining 15 contests. The Cruz-Kasich deal in the three states represents a small slice of those remaining delegates.

The delegates at stake in three states where anti-Trump forces are co-ordinating

 

Total Republican delegates at 2016 convention in Cleveland:

2,472

Total delegates up for grabs between now and the conclusion of primaries on June 7:

674

Total delegates of three states where Cruz and Kasich have made a deal:

109

MURAT YÜKSELIR/THE GLOBE AND MAIL › SOURCE: AP

The delegates at stake in three states where anti-Trump forces are co-ordinating

 

Total Republican delegates at 2016 convention

in Cleveland:

2,472

Total delegates up for grabs between now and the conclusion of

primaries on June 7:

674

Total delegates of three states where Cruz and Kasich have made a deal:

109

MURAT YÜKSELIR/THE GLOBE AND MAIL › SOURCE: AP

The delegates at stake in three states where anti-Trump forces are co-ordinating

 

Total Republican delegates at 2016 convention in

Cleveland:

2,472

Total delegates up for grabs between now and the conclusion of

primaries on June 7:

674

Total delegates of three states where Cruz and Kasich have made a deal:

109

MURAT YÜKSELIR/THE GLOBE AND MAIL › SOURCE: AP

The delegates at stake in three states where anti-Trump forces are co-ordinating

 

Total Republican delegates at 2016 convention

in Cleveland:

2,472

Total delegates up for grabs between now and the conclusion of

primaries on June 7:

674

Total delegates of three states where Cruz and Kasich

have made a deal:

109

MURAT YÜKSELIR/THE GLOBE AND MAIL › SOURCE: AP

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

When the Republican state nominating process wraps up on June 7 and the national convention begins in Cleveland in July, the effectiveness of the Kasich-Cruz strategy will become clear: either it blocked Mr. Trump from winning the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination and forced a contested convention, or it was a case of too little too late.

The next big day in the Republican leadership race takes place April 26 – when a bunch of northeastern states votes and 172 delegates are up for grabs. Mr. Trump is expected to dominate. Here is where the delegate count stands going in to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware and Connecticut.

Republican and Democratic contests remaining in calendar

ContestsRepublicanDelegatesDemocraticDelegates
Connecticut26-Apr2826-Apr70
Delaware26-Apr1626-Apr31
Maryland26-Apr3826-Apr118
Pennsylvania26-Apr7126-Apr210
Rhode Island26-Apr1926-Apr33
Indiana3-May573-May92
Guamnonenone7-May12
Nebraska10-May36nonenone
West Virginia10-May3410-May37
Kentuckynonenone17-May61
Oregon17-May2817-May74
Washington24-May44nonenone
Virgin Islandsnonenone4-Jun12
Puerto Ricononenone5-Jun67
California7-Jun1727-Jun546
Montana7-Jun277-Jun27
New Jersey7-Jun517-Jun142
New Mexico7-Jun247-Jun43
South Dakota7-Jun297-Jun25
North Dakotanonenone7-Jun23
District of Columbianonenone14-Jun45

New York Times

Delegates from winner-take-all or winner-take-most Republican contests are in bold. Also, if the table indicates no contest and date, it is because the contest took place earlier in the calendar.