Utah split hampers GOP efforts to derail Trump

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY

Donald Trump faces an uphill battle in Utah’s caucuses today, but he could still walk away with delegates if sharp divisions within the party prevent anyone from winning a majority.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is likely to do well in Utah, a conservative state that prizes civility and religiosity. Cruz has been helped by the support of Mitt Romney, the GOP’s last presidential nominee who holds clout among the state’s predominantly Mormon voters. On Monday the Texas senator also picked up the endorsement of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

But Ohio Gov. John Kasich is fighting back in Utah, hoping his more pragmatic approach and longtime governing experience will net him delegates there. He has invested heavily in Utah in recent days, airing $215,000 in ads – the fifth highest amount he’s spent in any state so far. In addition, one Kasich campaign web ad that falsely implies Romney backed him, rather than Cruz in Utah.

According to Utah state regulations, if no candidate wins more than half of the caucus votes, each of the three candidates will be awarded delegates proportionally. The candidate who can win Utah by more than 50 percent will walk away with all 40 delegates.

Trump could significantly benefit from those rules if Cruz doesn’t win the majority, since it would ultimately bump up his lead. The former reality television star goes into Today’s contests as the national front-runner with 680 delegates in hand. Cruz has 424 and Kasich has 143.

Ultimately, both Cruz and Kasich increasingly share a mutual goal – both want to stop Trump from gaining the required 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination, ultimately forcing a contested convention to take place in July.

Kasich made a series of campaign stops in the state on Friday and Saturday, drawing rebuke from Cruz.

“Donald Trump wants people to vote for Kasich because it divides his opposition,” Cruz told reporters during a trip to the Arizona border Friday.

On Monday, Utah Republicans received a pre-recorded call from Romney urging them to back Cruz, not Kasich. “At this point,” Romney said on the call, “a vote for John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump.”

The Kasich campaign says it’s logical to compete in Utah. “It would be malpractice to cede delegates to somebody who you don’t think is going to be the nominee and who you don’t think can win the general election,” spokesman Chris Schrimpf said.

The split among Utah voters and its Republican establishment mirrors the widening divide among Republicans nationwide. A total of all the votes cast thus far reveals that a majority have opted for someone other than Trump. But with no single standard-bearer in the running, the billionaire real-estate developer has managed to amass a majority of delegates.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders scored a big win Monday in the Democrats Abroad global primary.

The party said 34,570 U.S. citizens living abroad in more than 170 countries cast votes by Internet, mail and in person from March 1 to 8. Sanders received 69 percent of the vote to earn nine of the 13 delegates at stake. Hillary Clinton won 31 percent, picking up four delegates.

Halfway into the primary season, the Democratic race now moves to Western states this week that Sanders is counting on winning to cut into Clinton’s lead. Today, Democrats vote in Arizona, Idaho and Utah, with 131 delegates up for grabs; on Saturday, Alaska, Hawaii and Washington have caucuses with 142 delegates at stake.