COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado crowned Ted Cruz as the runaway winner in the state's Republican presidential contest Saturday — and moved the GOP closer to a contested national convention. The Texas senator won all 34 delegates awarded in Colorado in what amounts to a stunning rebuke of Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Cruz completed the sweep by winning all 13 delegates at the state convention in Colorado Springs — the largest in history with nearly 8,000 in the crowd — where he gave what amounted to an victory speech earlier in the day.
"If it we continue to stand united," Cruz declared, "we are going to win this Republican nomination."
His landslide victory in Colorado, combined with recent wins Wisconsin and Utah, increases the likelihood that no Republican candidate reaches the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the party's nomination.
Surrounded by supporters in bright orange shirts, Cruz said the momentum behind his campaign will only continue as the final states vote in the next two months.
"We are here today because our country is in crisis," Cruz said in his opening. "All across the country, people are waking up and help is on the way."
In an interview with The Denver Post ahead of his speech, Cruz said he is preparing for a "battle on the convention floor" in Cleveland with Donald Trump to "see who can earn a majority of the delegates."
He called a contested convention a "very significant possibility" and labeled the 21 delegates he won in early congressional districts in Colorado vital in his push. The strategy reflects a shift from earlier in the campaign, when Cruz expressed confidence he could win before the July convention.
"I am confident we are going to win in Cleveland at a contested convention," he said.
The candidate's visit to Colorado is the first this election cycle and a signal of how much energy the campaign put into winning the state's 37 national delegates. After Cruz swept the congressional district conventions in the past week, he expressed confidence he would win a portion of the 13 statewide delegates awarded Saturday.
Front-runner Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich did not attend the state convention, sending supporters in their place. Both campaigns invested little in the state, sensing that the state's caucus process run by hard-core party insiders did not favor their campaigns.
Cruz criticized Trump for skipping the event, suggesting "he was scared."
"They knew he wasn't going to do well," Cruz said. "Donald doesn't handle losing well."
The visit to Colorado forced Cruz to address Colorado issues, including the legalization of marijuana. If elected president, Cruz told The Denver Post that he would not interfere with the state's pot legalization.
"I think on the question of marijuana legalization, we should leave it to the states," Cruz said before addressing the GOP activists at the state convention here."If it were me personally, voting on it in the state of Texas, I would vote against it.
"The people of Colorado have made a different decision. I respect that decision," he continued. "And actually, it is an opportunity for the rest of the country to see what happens here in Colorado, what happens in Washington state — see the states implement the policies, and if it works well, other states may choose to follow. If it doesn't work well, other states may choose not to follow."
Cruz declined to make a judgment about the first two years of legalization in Colorado. "I'm going to give that some time to let the facts and evidence play out, and ultimately that will be a decision for the people of Colorado," he said.
On the question of banking for the marijuana industry, Cruz said he hasn't studied the issue and needed to learn more before taking a position.
On the concourse at the convention at the Broadmoor World Arena, party activists studied red-checkered ballots that resembled horse track racing forms. Most picked national delegates based on which presidential candidate they favored.
"You don't know most of the people, so you have to pay attention and go with your gut," said Helen Escobedo, a retired school teacher and Cruz supporter, eating a hamburger while she perused the ballot. "You look at who they are supporting, and you hope they'll stick with it."
Earlier in the day, Sierra Stieb of Colorado Springs handed out Trump fliers.
"I wouldn't necessarily say I support Trump, but he does have some qualities I support. I like his business acumen, his entrepreneurial spirit," Stieb said. "He speaks his mind. He's very strong and he doesn't back down in the face of adversity. But those qualities also have a negative attribute."
But Trump supporter Harold Giles of Colorado Springs said a brokered convention would "break the party."
"Elections matter," he said. "If the people elect Trump, he should be our guy. I'd rather lose one election than sacrifice what the ballot means."
