2016 Indiana Republican presidential primary

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2016 Indiana Republican presidential primary
Flag of Indiana.svg
  2012 May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03) 2020  
  RI
NE  

57 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention
  Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore 10 (cropped).jpg Ted Cruz by Gage Skidmore 10 (cropped).jpg John Kasich (24618295175) (cropped).jpg
Candidate Donald Trump Ted Cruz John Kasich
Home state New York Texas Ohio
Delegate count5700
Popular vote591,514406,78384,111
Percentage53.26%36.63%7.57%

2016 IN GOP Presidential primary.svg
Results by county

The 2016 Indiana Republican presidential primary was held on May 3 in the U.S. state of Indiana as one of the Republican Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election. This was a winner-take-all election, so Donald Trump, who came in first in the popular vote, won all the delegates.

Contents

The Democratic Party held their own Indiana primary on the same day, which was won by Bernie Sanders. Other primaries were not scheduled for that day.

Following Trump's win, both Cruz and Kasich suspended their campaigns and Trump was declared the presumptive GOP nominee.

Primary

Pre-primary strategies

By late April, Cruz and Kasich had both been eliminated from getting 1,237 delegates, but they still had a chance to accumulate enough delegates to force a contested convention in Cleveland. Realizing this, Cruz and Kasich attempted to focus their efforts in different states, with Cruz challenging Trump head-to-head in Indiana and Kasich challenging Trump head-to-head in Oregon and New Mexico. However, the alliance was tenuous at best, with Kasich telling voters in Indiana the next day to still vote for him and Cruz downplaying the alliance later in the week; it also met with disapproval from 58% of Indiana voters. [1] [2] [3]

Final attempts to stop Trump

Indiana was seen as the final state for the "Stop Trump" movement. Indiana, whose delegates were awarded winner-take all statewide and by congressional district, was seen as essential to denying Trump the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination. [4] Following the Acela primaries, Cruz attempted to bolster his chances by announcing that, if nominated, he would name Fiorina as his running mate. [5] Fiorina had served as a Cruz campaign surrogate since March after suspending her own presidential campaign in February and Cruz hoped that Fiorina could help his campaign in Indiana and her home state of California. [6] On April 29, 2016, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, who eventually became Donald Trump's running mate, announced that he would vote for Cruz in the primary election. [7] However, Cruz's posturing and endorsements proved to be insufficient, as Trump handily won Indiana with 53% of the vote, despite being outspent by a margin of more than 4–1. [8] Cruz lost Indiana by a wide margin to Trump (53% to 37% with Kasich at 8%) and subsequently dropped out of the race.

Trump emerges as Republican nominee

Cruz lost Indiana by a wide margin to Trump (53% to 37% with Kasich at 8%) and subsequently dropped out of the race. As a result, Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman, tweeted that Trump was the presumptive nominee in the GOP. The next day, Kasich also suspended his campaign, leaving Trump as the only candidate in the race. Despite his endorsement of Cruz, Mike Pence went on to become Trump's running mate.

Opinion polling

Results

Trump won Indiana by a considerable margin statewide. He won nearly all regions of the state except for several counties in northeast Indiana containing the Fort Wayne and Elkhart areas, which Cruz won.

Indiana Republican primary, May 3, 2016
CandidateVotesPercentageActual delegate count
BoundUnboundTotal
Donald Trump 591,51453.26%57057
Ted Cruz 406,78336.63%000
John Kasich 84,1117.57%000
Ben Carson (withdrawn)8,9140.80%000
Jeb Bush (withdrawn)6,5080.59%000
Marco Rubio (withdrawn)5,1750.47%000
Rand Paul (withdrawn)4,3060.39%000
Chris Christie (withdrawn)1,7380.16%000
Carly Fiorina (withdrawn)1,4940.13%000
Unprojected delegates:000
Total:1,110,543100.00%57057
Source: The Green Papers

References

  1. Schwartz, Ian (April 25, 2016). "Kasich on Indiana: 'I Never Told People Not To Vote For Me, They Ought To Vote For Me' | Video". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  2. Scott, Eugene (April 28, 2016). "Ted Cruz on John Kasich: 'There is no alliance'". CNN. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  3. Mack, Justin L. (May 2, 2016). "Poll: Reversal of fortune, Donald Trump tops Ted Cruz in Indiana". Indystar.com. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  4. "Ted Cruz and John Kasich team up in deal to stop Trump". The Guardian. April 24, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  5. "Ted Cruz Will Name Carly Fiorina As His Vice Presidential Pick". NPR.
  6. Sullivan, Sean; Costa, Robert (April 27, 2016). "Cruz announces Carly Fiorina as his running mate". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  7. Bradner, Eric (April 29, 2016). "Mike Pence endorses Ted Cruz". CNN. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  8. Collinson, Stephen (May 3, 2016). "CNN projects Donald Trump wins Indiana, on cusp of GOP nomination". CNN. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  9. Primary results
  10. "Current Indiana Polling". Gravis Marketing. May 2, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  11. "2016 Indiana Republican Presidential Primary". American Research Group. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  12. Mark Murray (May 2016). "Donald Trump Leads Cruz by 15 Points in Crucial Indiana Race". NBC News. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  13. "Cruz Ahead in Indiana" (PDF). Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  14. "Survey of Likely GOP Primary Election Voters in Indiana" (PDF). Clout. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  15. "Trump, Clinton have the edge in Pennsylvania, Indiana". YouGov. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  16. "Fox News Poll: Indiana presidential primary". Shaw & Company Research. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  17. "EXCLUSIVE WTHR/HPI Poll: Trump, Clinton have small leads in Indiana, overall tight race". Howey Politics Indiana. April 22, 2016. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  18. Bellwether