Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign Monday blamed the third-place finish in the South Carolina primary on “pockets of liberalism” and set sights on more conservative states voting on Super Tuesday.
“The coast of South Carolina down in Charleston is actually a very liberal community. Marco Rubio won that or did very well there. He also did very well in the capital city, which is quite liberal,” Cruz campaign spokesman Rick Tyler said on Fox News.
Mr. Cruz finished behind front-runner Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in the primary Saturday, which was a setback for Mr. Cruz who had expected to attract more of the Palmetto State’s evangelical voters.
“There are these pockets of liberalism in South Carolina. A lot of people have moved in to South Carolina,” Mr. Tyler said. “Oklahoma is not like that. Tennessee is not like that. Alabama is not really like that. Texas is not like that. So all of those states are going to go March 1.”
He said those states that vote in the Super Tuesday contests March 1 look more like Iowa, where Mr. Cruz won the Republican caucuses.
Mr. Cruz also enjoys a slight lead in his home state of Texas.
Mr. Cruz has staked his campaign on emerging as the conservative alternative to Mr. Trump, while Mr. Rubio has moved into position to dominate the establishment lane in the race.
“Part of our strategy is to do well on March 1 because that’s the biggest single day for delegates,” Mr. Tyler said. “We’ve got the organization. We’ve got a candidate with a message. He is now the only conservative left in the race with a path to victory. So we feel very good about March 1.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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