Delegates working on putting Cruz's name up for nomination at GOP convention
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Tuesday, May 3, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a primary night campaign event, in Indianapolis. Cruz's now-defunct presidential campaign is being sued over the background music it used in two videos. Audiosocket, a music licensing company based in Seattle and New Orleans, filed the lawsuit Monday, May 9, 2016, in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Cruz for President and the advertising firm Madison McQueen. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File) (ap)
Donald Trump may find he hasn’t quite gotten Ted Cruz out of his hair yet.
Some delegates are collecting signatures in an attempt to have the Texas senator, who accepted an invitation from Trump on Thursday to address the Republican National Convention this month, be a nominee, Politico reports.
So far, delegates in only two states – Colorado and Maine – are part of the effort. The Republican National Convention begins Monday, July 18 in Cleveland, Ohio.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Thursday, Trump met with Cruz in Washington D.C.
After the meeting, Cruz's spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, released a statement about it saying:
“Sen. Cruz and Donald Trump had a good meeting this morning. There was no discussion of any endorsement."
"Mr. Trump asked Sen. Cruz to speak at the Republican convention, and Sen. Cruz said he would be happy to do so," the statement said. "Mr. Trump also asked Sen. Cruz for his counsel on future judicial nominations, and Cruz responded he would continue to do everything he can to help ensure principled constitutionalists on the courts.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The move to put Cruz’s name in nomination would be purely symbolic since Trump secured well over the required number of delegates to be the official nominee, and party leaders have by and large gotten behind him.
Cruz has yet to endorse Trump. The same goes for some of his closest allies, such as Rep. Steve King, the Iowa conservative who served as Cruz’s national campaign chairman. King told Fox News Latino earlier this year that Trump had to show his bona fides in order to win the support of the GOP’s most ardent conservatives.
The convention rules allow for someone’s name to be put forward for nomination for president provided that they have support from at least eight states or territories, Politico reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cruz won ten states before dropping out after the Indiana primary.
Even Trump delegates are allowed to sign nomination papers for one or more other candidates.
“I did get those forms signed by well over half of our delegation,” Regina Thomson, a Colorado delegate and Cruz backer, told Politico.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some Cruz supporters had said that given the senator’s strong showing in the primaries, he should get some kind of prominent speaking role at the convention.
Wendy Day, Cruz’s former Michigan campaign director, told the website that the movement to put the senator’s name in for nomination is not linked to an effort to stop Trump from getting it.
That campaign has not named an alternate choice for the nomination, Politico said, but it’s comprised principally of Cruz delegates.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I think it’s important to not get those things muddled,” Day said.
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