Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz Holds Delegate Lead in Colorado

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By: S. Harding, Xiro Xone News  April 09, 2016  Updated: 11:40 AM

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Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, points as he speaks at a campaign stop at Waukesha County Exposition Center. Photo: AP

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has locked up the support of 21 total Colorado delegates to the Republican National Convention, representing a majority of the delegates the state will send to Cleveland in July.

Slates loyal to Cruz won every assembly in Colorado's seven congressional districts, which began April 2 and culminated Friday with 12 delegates selected. 

The Texas senator is well-positioned to pad his total Saturday, when 13 more delegates will be chosen at Colorado Republicans' state convention.

Of Cruz's delegates, only 17 were formally pledged to him, and in theory the other four could change their vote in Cleveland. 

But they were all included on the senator's slates and are largely state party officials who said they were barred from signing a formal pledge for Cruz but have promised to back him in balloting at the convention.

Trump, the Republican front-runner, managed to claim only two alternate delegates in the 4th Congressional District, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich's campaign left empty handed.

"We worked hard for many months leading up to this, and it shows," said Regina Thomson, a leading grassroots organizer for the campaign. "He's the conservative that most Republicans are looking for."

Colorado Republicans awarded a dozen delegates Friday in a chaotic atmosphere that drew hundreds of party activists to a hotel ballroom and overflowed into a courtyard. 

The candidates who competed for a seat at the national convention in Cleveland put on a show as they tried to stand out. One woman sang the first few words of "God Bless America" while others wore patriotic costumes and shouted conservative slogans.

The Trump campaign said it wasn't worried and had always expected to fare poorly in Colorado because its assembly process is dominated by party insiders. "If we had a primary, yes, we would have done very well here," said Trump senior adviser Alan Cobb.

"Coloradans, naturally having that pioneer spirit, gravitate toward someone like Cruz," said State Rep. Justin Everett, one of Cruz's pledged delegates.