Cruz won the Iowa caucus, very corrupt and unprofessional system, with people just writing down their candidate's name on a sheet of paper and tossing it into a basket. No security to insure protection of votes or if you only voted once, and captain precincts outright telling lies to voters as they vote. Voter participation also very low in comparison to New Hampshire. This system was good for Ted Cruz. The primary system is much better, and a corrupt and mighty ground game is far less effective.
Under such an atmosphere, Cruz lost even the conservative vote in New Hampshire to Donald Trump. We could remove all independents, all moderates, all slightly conservative people, and Trump still wins New Hampshire.
What conservative vote in New Hampshire?
Kasich came in second and could have just as easily run as a Democrat...