A year ago I was avidly for Cruz, right up until the end of 2015. Ted STARTED his campaign with the fundamental strategy that his bedrock was the Solid South. Firmly stanced on that, he could use the power and will of conservative logic, etc. and convince other new states not considered ‘republican’ - maybe even some of the ones that recently swapped from red to blue.
All that worked out real well, huh? Pretty soon, in addition to saying “real conservatives never expected (the South, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast)” you’ll have to add more of your ‘flyover country’ as well as a large chunk of the West Coast.
In PA, Trump won EVERY county, even Lancaster County in central PA, home to the VERY fundamentalist Mennonites and Amish.