Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz to visit Maine on Friday

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has announced that he will visit Maine on Friday, a day before the state’s Republican caucuses, according to Eventbrite.com.

Cruz will appear at the University of Maine’s Hauck Auditorium in Orono, beginning at around 10:30 a.m. Doors to the event open at 9:30 a.m. RSVP by clicking here.

Cruz’s visit comes two days after Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders’ visit to Portland today.

The Texas senator, who gained dozens of endorsements in early February from Republican elected officials in Maine, picked up primary wins Tuesday in his home state, in neighboring Oklahoma and in Alaska. Those victories position him as — at least this week — the best alternative for Republicans who fear that front-runner Donald Trump would decimate the Republican Party if he becomes its presidential nominee.

Trump appears to have won at least seven of the 11 Super Tuesday contests. Those wins widened his lead in the delegate count.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, perceived to be the best hope for establishment Republicans desperate to block a Trump nomination, fared poorly on Super Tuesday. After that lackluster showing — with a projected caucus victory in Minnesota as Rubio’s only win of the campaign — some GOP insiders hinted Tuesday that they would grudgingly shift their support to Cruz as the anti-Trump.

Cruz won the Iowa caucuses, but then slipped back into the pack behind Trump after relatively poor showings in New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

Cruz won’t spend long in Maine. He’s scheduled for a rally in Florida at 3 p.m. Friday, according to his campaign website.

 

Christopher Cousins

About Christopher Cousins

Christopher Cousins has worked as a journalist in Maine for more than 15 years and covered state government for numerous media organizations before joining the Bangor Daily News in 2009.