Cruz, Sanders score decisive wins

Trump says rival worse than a puppet, calls him a Trojan horse

TEXAS senator Ted Cruz commanded new momentum yesterday in the race for the White House with a solid Wisconsin primary win, making it harder for front-runner Donald Trump to clinch the Republican nomination outright.

Upstart senator Bernie Sanders also beat front-runner Hillary Clinton in the midwestern state, bolstering his claim to be a viable alternative standard-bearer to the former secretary of state and first lady.

Sanders has now won six of the last seven Democratic nominating contests against Clinton.

But the Wisconsin results were almost certainly more damaging for Trump.

The billionaire stormed to the fore last year with a brash anti-establishment message.

But he has suffered setbacks in recent weeks with a string of controversial comments about abortion, Nato and nuclear weapons.

Cruz captured most of Wisconsin’s 42 Republican delegates, making it far less likely that Trump will win the 1 237 delegates necessary to secure the nomination outright.

This raises the prospect of a contested convention in July when the delegates meet to choose the party nominee for the presidential election.

“Tonight is a turning point. It is a rallying cry,” Cruz told supporters in Milwaukee after he received a hug from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, one of several former 2016 presidential candidates to have endorsed him.

“It is a call from the hardworking men and women of Wisconsin to the people of America. We have a choice, a real choice,” he said.

Trump made no public appearance after the results were announced.

His campaign issued a statement that criticised Cruz as, among other things, “worse than a puppet – he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr Trump”.

Analysts said yesterday’s vote could alter the trajectory of the Republican race.

“Trump needs every delegate to get to 1 237, and tonight was a significant setback,” election analyst Larry Sabato, of the University of Virginia, said.

“It’s not impossible for Trump to still get there, but the likelihood is that he will be a few dozen delegates short of a majority.”

Yesterday’s results cement Cruz’s status as the leading anti-Trump candidate.

Cruz used his victory speech to turn the spotlight on a possible face-off with Clinton.

“Hillary, get ready. Here we come,” he said.