Cruze and Kasici to jointly stop Trump - Wall Street Journal

In an unprecedented last-ditch effort to stop Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, his two remaining rivals announced Sunday night they are divvying up the upcoming primary states to try to block the New York businessman’s path to the GOP nomination.
Top officials from the Ted Cruz and John Kasich campaigns announced the alliance in a pair of statements late Sunday night. The deal will keep Mr. Kasich, the Ohio governor, on the sidelines for Indiana’s May 3 primary, while Mr. Cruz, the Texas senator, won’t compete in contests in Oregon on May 17 and New Mexico on June 7.
“Our campaign will focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Gov. Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico, and we would hope that allies of both campaigns would follow our lead,” Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe said.
Mr. Kasich’s top strategist, John Weaver, made an explicit call for super PACs devoted to stopping Mr. Trump to follow the two campaigns’ lead.
“We will focus our time and resources in New Mexico and Oregon,” Mr. Weaver said. “We would expect independent third-party groups to do the same and honor the commitments made by the Cruz and Kasich campaigns.”
The Cruz-Kasich alliance marks a phase both candidates have resisted for months. Both men have rejected calls that they ask supporters to strategically back other candidates in order to stop Mr. Trump, who is the lone Republican with a statistical chance of winning the party’s nomination on the first ballot at the GOP’s national convention, to be held in July in Cleveland.
The agreement comes as Mr. Trump is in the midst of a successful run of states. He won 89 of New York’s 95 delegates on Tuesday and stands to carry all five northeastern states due to vote this week.
If the arrangement is successful, it stands to benefit both men. Mr. Cruz’s campaign is now arranged around the idea that he can clinch the GOP nomination on a second or third ballot at the convention, once delegates bound to Mr. Trump on the first vote become free to vote how they wish. Mr. Kasich’s hope is that not only does Mr. Trump fall short, but Mr. Cruz does too, and eventually Republican delegates choose him as the most electable candidate.
Republican candidates need 1,237 delegates at the party convention to become the presidential nominee.
Mr. Trump responded on Twitter Sunday night Messrs. Cruz and Kasich “are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!”
Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The deal will also likely add fuel to Mr. Trump’s long-running argument that the presidential contest is “rigged” against him. Mr. Trump has for weeks claimed the GOP nominating rules are fixed to benefit other candidates.