Posted on 03/29/2016 3:25:01 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, locked in a fierce Republican Party presidential nomination fight, will fire up the North Dakota GOP faithful with a speech at this weekend’s state party convention in Fargo and make his play for the state’s unbound national delegates.
Cruz will be the main keynote speaker of the convention, speaking at about 1 p.m. Saturday at Scheels Arena in Fargo. Party officials expect more than 1,800 delegates at the convention.
“We’re just really excited that the presidential candidates are interested and having a presidential candidate able to speak,” North Dakota Republican Party Chairman Kelly Armstrong said.
The appearance by Cruz comes as the fight over delegates for the GOP nomination gets down to the wire and states such as North Dakota become more critical to securing the party’s nomination.
As of Tuesday, frontrunner Donald Trump led Cruz in delegates by a 739 to 465 margin; 1,237 are needed to clinch the nomination.
North Dakota’s 28 delegates aren’t bound to any candidate. The North Dakota GOP is not sponsoring a caucus this year.
Armstrong said he couldn’t speak for the Cruz campaign but said, “I assume he’s going to come here and make his case.”
Cruz’ father, Rafael Cruz, visited North Dakota on Monday and Tuesday, stumping for his son, with stops in Fargo, Valley City, Jamestown and Bismarck. The elder Cruz is a Cuban native who left the country in 1957 after fighting in the country’s revolution that brought long-time leader Fidel Castro to power. Rafael Cruz is now a pastor.
Ted Cruz, 45, was born in Calgary and is a first-term senator from Texas. He received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his law degree from Harvard Law School. He later served as a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
He served as an adviser on former President George W. Bush’s campaign in 2000.
Cruz also served in roles with the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in the early 2000s before becoming solicitor general in Texas from 2003-2008.
In 2012, he was elected to the Senate. His election was considered one of the major upsets of that election cycle.
He’s married and has two children.
Retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson will be speaking on Sunday morning. Since leaving the race, Carson has spoken in support of Trump.
State party Executive Director Roz Leighton echoed Armstrong’s words about the level of interest in North Dakota from current and former candidates.
“It just goes to show that North Dakota does play a role in the presidential race,” Leighton said.
Leighton said the party also on Tuesday made 800 guest passes to the convention available on a first-come, first-served basis. The $25 passes will be good for both Saturday and Sunday.
Information about the guest passes is available at www.ndgop.org or through the state party’s Facebook page.
Caught. Again.
Bye.
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In case you don’t know, JR frowns on stalkers who won’t stop when asked.
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