Update May 5, 2016: Ohio Governor John Kasich has announced he is also dropping his bid for the presidency, after winning only his home state of Ohio. This leaves Trump as the only GOP candidate still in the race.

By Miriam Raftery

May 3, 2016 (San Diego) –Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced that he is pulling out of the Republican presidential race.  Cruz made the announcement after losing the Indiana primary, all but assuring that Donald Trump will win the GOP nomination.

Cruz said, “From the beginning I’ve said that I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory. Tonight I’m sorry to say it appears that path has been foreclosed. With a heavy heart but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.”

By Miriam Raftery

April 20, 2016 (San Diego) – Frontrunners widened their leads in yesterday’s New York presidential primary, where three of the five contenders had strong New York ties.

New York’s former Senator Hillary Clinton won with 58% percent of the vote, picking up 139 delegates.  But Senator Bernie Sanders, who was raised in Brooklyn, got 42% and picked up 106 of the delegates.

On the Republican side, New York businessman Donald Trump scored a resounding victory with 60, winning 89 delegates. In second place, Ohio Governor John Kasich got 25% and earned 3 delegates.  Texas Senator Ted Cruz, with just 14.5%, was shut out of receiving any delegates.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Senator Bernie Sanders, by Johnathunder under GNU Free  Documentation license

Photo, right: Senator Ted Cruz, by Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons license

April  6, 2016 (San Diego) –Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Texas Senator Ted Cruz won big victories in Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary, making contested conventions in both the Democratic and Republican parties increasingly likely prospects.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Donald Trump and his wife, Melania

March 22, 2016 – Tonight’s “Western Tuesday” included two Republican matches.  Businessman/reality TV celebrity Donald Trump won the Arizona GOP caucus with 47.1%. Texas Senator Ted Cruz had 24.4%, while Ohio Governor John Kasich got 10% of the Arizona vote with 74% of precincts counted.

But in Utah, Ted Cruz dominated, wining with 69.2% of the vote. Kasich placed second in Utah with 16.7% , while Trump trailed with 14.1% as of midnight tonight, with 59% of precincts counted, CNN reports.

Both Utah and Arizona are winner-take-all states for Republicans, leaving Kasich shut out for the night.

Sanders, Rubio and Cruz also score wins as a dozen states hold primaries or caucuses

By Miriam Raftery

March 2, 2016 (San Diego) –Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and businessman Donald Trump strengthened their positions as frontrunners in the Democratic and Republican presidential race, each scoring wins in seven out of twelve states that held primaries or caucuses yesterday.

 Vermont Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders also picked up four key wins (Colorado, Minnesota, his home state of Vermont and Oklahoma, a conservative state) , leaving the door open for an upset on the Democratic side-- but only if he can produce landslides across the west and  populous states that have not yet cast ballots.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz picked up three wins to continue his challenge to Trump, while Florida Senator Marco Rubio, also a Republican, won his first primary victory to keep his candidacy tenuously alive.

Part III:  Latino contenders Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz

A series by Miriam Raftery, Devoreo Bell and Juwan Armstrong

August 23, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) –Winning the general election would be a daunting task for Republicans without support from the growing number of Latino voters across the U.S.  Two of the Republican contenders have Hispanic roots that could be a draw among Latinos, though their stances on immigration and deportation issues are largely at odds with the views of the major immigrant rights groups.  But there are key differences in their positions on core Latino issues, as well as a wide range of other topics.