The potentially pivotal contest is the first after a 10-day lull in the process.
Voters in the state of Wisconsin cast ballots on Tuesday in US presidential primary races in which challengers to Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton seem poised to win.
The potentially pivotal contest is the first after a 10-day lull in the process that determines the parties’ nominees for the November general election. Voting began at 7 am (1200 GMT).
Mr Trump’s main rival Senator Ted Cruz is eyeing the Badger State as a crucial firewall against the celebrity billionaire’s march to an outright nomination victory.
But should Mr Trump, who is riding a wave of anti-establishment anger, manage to snatch a surprise victory there, he could snuff out Mr Cruz’s campaign.
“If we do well here, folks, it’s over,” he claimed at a campaign stop Monday in the town of La Crosse.
Like Mr Trump, Mrs Clinton risks losing Wisconsin, where she faces a surging Bernie Sanders who has won five of the last six contests.
UPCOMING CONTESTS
But April could ultimately prove a sunny month for the former secretary of state. She leads Sanders by double digits in New York, which votes on April 19, and Pennsylvania, which casts ballots a week later.
Mr Trump, the 69-year-old real estate mogul from New York, also leads handily in those states.
Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party, is seen as Ground Zero for the anti-Trump movement.
Halting him there would bolster Cruz, the 45-year-old conservative senator from Texas.
For Cruz, “it’s a very important win. For Mr Trump, it’s not a critical loss,” University of Iowa professor Timothy Hagle told AFP. However, Trump has been in damage control this past week.
Although his campaign had recently seemed bulletproof, his latest controversial statements – on abortion, Mr Cruz’s wife and a journalist who said she was roughed up by Trump’s campaign manager – have further alienated women voters, polls indicate.
Mr Cruz tried to cash in on Trump’s recent campaign gaffes that seem to be alienating women voters.
Leave a Reply