Ted Cruz scores Colorado delegate sweep at state assembly in Colorado Springs

By Megan Schrader April 9, 2016 | updated 10 years ago

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz shakes hands with supporters after speaking at the Colorado State Republican Assembly at the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz walked onto the stage of the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday like a celebrity, celebrating a well-oiled political machine that navigated Colorado’s complex presidential nomination process to secure all 34 of the state’s Republican delegates.

Cruz stooped over to shake hands with hundreds of supporters surrounding the stage who were wearing bright orange Cruz T-shirts. The T-shirts listed the names of delegates who were part of the official Cruz slate.

All 13 delegates elected Thursday were on those T-shirts.

It’s just one example of the campaign organization responsible for carrying Cruz to a clean victory at the base of Pikes Peak and in the conservative heart of Colorado.

Almost 4,000 people showed up to the Republican state assembly, the largest in the party’s history. Traffic was snarled as cars filled the parking lot and the assembly ran consistently behind, culminating with 10-second speeches from any of the almost 400 candidates to be delegates to the Republican National Convention in July.

Before Saturday, Colorado’s seven congressional districts held separate assemblies where 21 other delegates were awarded.

“Y’all had seven elections in the past week . together, we won all 21,” Cruz said to huge applause and scattered boos. “The credit for that goes to each and every one of you. It goes to the dedicated Republican women, it goes to the young people, it goes to the pastors, it goes to the libertarians, it goes to the small-business owners, it goes to the farmers and ranchers and the passionate voters across the state who said, ‘We will stand for liberty.’ ”

At this point, Cruz is racing to keep front-runner Donald Trump from hitting 1,237 delegates, the threshold for winning the nomination outright.

If Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich can do that, they will force an election at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. If there’s no clear victor, subsequent votes will be held.

Trump had said he might come to Colorado Springs for the Republican assembly Saturday, but he backed out at the last minute.

Jennifer Biehn, a candidate to become a delegate to the Republican National Convention and supporter of Trump, said she wasn’t surprised her candidate didn’t show.

“I think it is part of his strategy,” Biehn said, noting that she expects him to be campaigning in places like the East Coast where he can win many more delegates. “It shows you what a great businessman he is: He made a strategic decision based on time.”

Biehn doesn’t believe Cruz’s victory in the caucus process is an effective way to choose a candidate. Biehn said only 10 people showed up to the caucus in her precinct.

“We were told it didn’t matter, and that’s sad,” she said. “My friends and neighbors who are Trump supporters felt they didn’t make a difference.”

Stephen Miller, a former policy adviser for Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., spoke on behalf of Trump on Saturday.

His speech centered on the threat of immigrants coming to the U.S. illegally, taking jobs and killing people.

He talked about Kate Steinle, who was killed in San Francisco in 2015 by a suspect who was in the country illegally and had been deported several times.

He talked about two other victims, one who died in a car crash 15 years ago that was caused by someone who was in the U.S. illegally.

“Let’s take a moment again and send a message from this arena to every special interest in Washington, D.C., who has kept our border open and put innocent American lives at risk,” Miller said. “Do we believe here in this arena today that the United States must put the security of the American people first?”

The crowd responded with “Yes.”

Kasich also sent a surrogate, former U.S. Sen. John Sununu from New Hampshire.

Sununu introduced Kasich’s record of returning to politics after a hiatus to help Ohio recover from the recession and a huge deficit.

“Today people don’t even talk about balancing the budget because people don’t believe we can do it,” Sununu said. “He balanced the budget while cutting taxes for the first time in 40 years.”

Cruz took a shot at Kasich, who has only won in his home state.

“There are two and only two candidates who have any plausible chance of winning the Republican nominee,” Cruz said. Current GOP rules require a candidate to win at least eight states to make it on the ballot in Cleveland.

Colorado’s nominating process culminated with hundreds of delegates speaking for three seconds to make their pitch. There were just under 600 delegates qualified for what some called the “monster ballot.”

People could vote for 23 people when they cast their ballots. Cruz supporters brought brooms across the stage as props for a “clean sweep.”

There was a lot of unrest about the numbers on the ballot not corresponding with the correct names of people.

But ultimately it was the Cruz slate that won, displayed on the screen behind Cruz at the end of his speech.

“It’s also really, really subtly displayed on these shockingly bright orange shirts,” Cruz said. “There’s no room for subtlety in politics. We thought about beige.”

The crowd started yelling something at Cruz, who paused.

“That is exactly why we did it,” he said. “For the Broncos . I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least I can take a hint.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz shakes hands with supporters after speaking at the Colorado State Republican Assembly at the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette.

STACIE SCOTT

Delegates of the Colorado State Republican Assembly at the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette.

STACIE SCOTT

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz shakes hands with supporters after speaking at the Colorado State Republican Assembly at the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday, April 9, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette.

STACIE SCOTT