Getting 44% of the vote in a five way race is actually doing very good. Cruz beat Trump by just over 17% and won virtually every congressional district. Texas is Cruz Country and he did great there.
No, failing to win your home state by 50% is not great, no matter how much you spin it.
Cruz has no “gemstone” states at all. He’s done-—has been done for a while. Trump has five “gemstone” states, with Trump friendly NY, CT, IL, MO, RI all coming up.
But I’m glad Cruz wasn’t entirely embarrassed.