Cruz spokesman: GOP race will go to contested convention

A national spokesman for Ted Cruz’s campaign said it’s “very likely” the Republican presidential contest will go to a contested GOP convention this July in Cleveland.

Front-runner Donald Trump won a decisive victory in New York Tuesday, while the Texas senator placed third and is unlikely to pick up any delegates in the state. Analysts and political observers say Cruz can’t mathematically win the nomination outright.

“I think it’s very, very likely — if not a certainty at this point, that this will be a contested convention,” Ron Nehring said during an interview with Fox News’s Megyn Kelly.

Nehring noted that Trump is unlikely to clinch the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination before the convention in July and said there’s “zero chance” he’ll be able secure a victory if Republican National Convention is contested.

“Donald Trump does something everyday to alienate even more people, and that’s why the Republican Party is absolutely not going to consolidate behind him,” Nehring said. “Donald Trump is trapped in his own brand that he created.”

During his victory speech, Trump touted his commanding victory and knocked Cruz for not being able to win the nomination outright.

“We don’t have much of a race anymore,” Trump said Tuesday night. “Sen. Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated.”

During another Fox News interview Tuesday night, Paul Manafort, Trump’s convention manager, said the real estate mogul will be awarded nearly all of New York’s 95 delegates and argued that Trump can win the necessary 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination prior to the convention.

“There’s not going to be a second ballot,” Manafort said. “We have several ways to get to 1,237 by early June. Today was a big step forward.”