Republicans voting in Indiana's primary election might give New York billionaire Donald Trump an almost unstoppable advantage in his turbulent journey toward the party's presidential nomination.
The real
estate mogul holds a double-digit polling lead in the Midwestern state over his
main rival, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
Fresh off a
sweep of five northeastern states last week, Trump wants a win in Indiana to
put him within reach of the 1237 delegates required to lock up the Republican
nomination before the party's convention in July.
"If we win
Indiana, it's over," Trump told a cheering crowd in Terre Haute, Indiana,
on the eve of the vote on Tuesday.
Cruz has
trumpeted Indiana, one of the last big states in the fight to get on the
November 8 presidential ballot, as his golden moment to stop Trump and force a
brokered nomination at the convention.
He vowed on
Monday to "compete to the end" but a loss in Indiana would be
particularly crushing for the senator, who has argued his brand of religious
conservatism is a natural draw for heartland Republicans. He won the
endorsement of conservative Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
Trump now has
996 delegates, compared with 565 for Cruz and 153 for Ohio Governor John
Kasich, according to The Associated Press. Another 57 delegates are up for grabs
in Indiana, a state that has voted Republican in nine of the last 10
presidential elections.
"I think
we're going to have a great voter turnout and people are tired of what's
happening with these politicians and they're just tired of seeing our country get
ripped off," Trump said on Tuesday.
Top Trump aide
Corey Lewandowski told CNN the campaign expected to win more than the required
number of delegates - 1300 to 1400.
The outcome in Indiana may ride on the votes of evangelical Christians after
Trump offered praise for Planned Parenthood family clinics and signaled support
for gay and transgender rights - views that rankled some Christian
conservatives.
Cruz had hoped
for smooth sailing in Indiana after he and Kasich reached a
"stop-Trump" deal in which Kasich would steer clear of the state
while Cruz would do likewise in Oregon and New Mexico.
Indiana has the
second-largest delegate haul of the 10 states remaining in the 2016 Republican
nominating
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