After the polls closed in New York Tuesday, the chief strategist for Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign made the case that Mr. Kasich is best positioned against GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump in upcoming states next week — and chided the “never Trump” forces for allowing Mr. Trump to do so well in his home state of New York on Tuesday.
“Donald Trump will not be the nominee — if the Never Trump forces get serious,” Kasich campaign chief strategist John Weaver wrote in a memo. “They weren’t serious in New York and allowed Trump to get over 50 percent in numerous districts where he could have been stopped. Continued lack of engagement by Never Trumpers could allow the Trump campaign to get back on track.”
With nearly all precincts in, Mr. Trump was right around 60 percent of the vote statewide. He was on track to win at least 89 of the 95 available delegates in New York, according to an Associated Press projection Wednesday morning.
Mr. Kasich was in a distant second place at about 25 percent statewide, and Sen. Ted Cruz was in third with about 15 percent.
The GOP race will remain in the northeast for a handful of contests on April 26, when Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland vote.
Mr. Weaver wrote that Mr. Cruz’s brand of politics “simply won’t play” with most voters in those states.
“A vote for Cruz in these states is a vote for Trump. And a vote for Cruz or Trump is a vote for Hillary Clinton in November because neither of them can win a general election,” he wrote.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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