Trump takes Indiana by YUGE margin – Cruz finished

Heck, I was looking forward to an extended evening of exit poll data, talking heads pointing at “big boards” while precinct results slowly trickled in – but nope – it’s over and Trump crushed Cruz.

The race was called within minutes of the first tallies coming in and as we approach 20% of polls in, Trump is getting over 50% of the vote which will likely hand him another 50+ delegates.

Throughout the primaries, I’ve held my choice close to keep from biasing my comwmentary and coverage for my candidate. But this primary is done so I’ll spill the beans – I voted for Ted Cruz in my precinct and he won it. That doesn’t mean I was right or wrong .. it’s just how I ended up evaluating my choices, but now .. Cruz is done and we have to move on.

Cruz officially announced this evening that he is suspending his campaign for President which guarantees Trumps eventual nomination.

Hillary cannot be our next President – no way, no how, nuh-uh. The energy industry, manufacturing and small business cannot afford another suffocating 8 years of big-government, big-regulation, big taxation and ridiculous spending. Nope. I’ll roll the dice and try Trump – who knows, he might just pull it off!

How are Delegates Awarded in Indiana GOP primary

30 delegates are statewide delegates and awarded to whomever gets the most votes – winner takes all.

27 delegates are awarded per district. They are winner-take-all, but district by district. Depending on how Trump wins the state, he could see anywhere between 50 and 57 votes.

As of 7:30p, Trump is winning is every single county so it is likely that he will get all 57 delegates at this time.

Will Trump have enough to take the nomination

If Trump gets all 57 Indiana delegates, he will have 1,053 of the needed 1,237. That leaves Donald needing 184 delegates to win.

With 446 outstanding delegates in upcoming races, he would only need 41% of them to become the nominee of the Republican party.

How would Trump get to 1,237 delegates?

California is winner-take-all by district. The winner in each district is awarded all of the delegates from that district. Almost all will go Trump awarding him between 125 and 172 delegates on June 7th so the billionaire bombaste needs only … 12 – 59  delegates between now and June 7th.

New Jersey is winner-take-all and will award Trump 57 delegates as he will handily win the garden state primary.

In the worst possible case, Trump needs to find a whole 2 delegates somewhere – It’s a solid bet that he’ll pull that off.

There is much conversation about West Virginia, Nebraska, Oregon et al – but whether they go Trump or Cruz will only change the timing of Trump hitting 1,237. He only needs California and New Jersey – there is no suspense left. Unless Donald Trump finds a way to self-destruct, he’s got this.