On Tuesday, Breitbart California editor Joel B. Pollak contended that regardless of how next week’s upcoming Indiana primary shapes up, California’s June primary will determine the outcome of the Republican presidential nomination.
The Indiana primary takes place Tuesday, May 3 and 57 delegates are at stake. The June 3 California primary has 172 delegates up for grabs. Both are winner-takes-all, both statewide and by congressional district.
Speaking with WIBC’s Greg Garrison on his daily radio show Tuesday, ahead of Trump’s five-state sweep in the northeastern “Acela Primary”, Pollak challenged conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt’s recent assertion that Trump would not receive the Republican Party’s nomination or even break 100 delegates in California “unless a political asteroid” hits the primary there.
Pollak said “our own projections at Breitbart News were that Trump will get 106 if the election is held today and, given his momentum in the state, that may go higher.”
Breitbart News has also projected that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) would win 66 delegates and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will achieve none, adding that Trump could potentially win an even higher number depending on how well he performs in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, both of which could go to either Trump or Cruz.
Pollak allowed that Cruz, too, could win California. He acknowledged that Indiana has become a very important state and could set the stage for California. He said that an Indiana victory for Trump would not guarantee an end to the “Stop Trump” efforts, but noted that stopping him in California would become harder.
“If Cruz wins Indiana, it’s almost impossible for [Trump] to get the delegates that he needs out of California. If Trump wins Indiana, then it is possible for Trump to win in California,” Pollak said. “But he still has to win by a large enough majority in order to hit 1,237.”
He added that if Cruz is well-organized enough and allocates his financial resources well in the Golden State, in addition to the possibility that he could win there, “then Cruz can make the case that he can stop Trump or he has stopped Trump.”
California is anyone’s race so far. The deadline for Republicans to register to vote in the closed primary is on May 23.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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