Grass-Roots Conservatives in This Key State Throw Their Support to Ted Cruz

Although prayers go out to those affected by the Brussels Islamist attacks, political attention is focused on the Republican voters in Arizona, Utah, and American Samoa on Tuesday.

But soon, the focus will be on Wisconsin, another winner-take-all state, which goes to the polls in just seven days. And in advance of that key state’s vote, one of the Badger State’s biggest grass-roots groups has thrown its support behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

“So, once again, it comes down to Wisconsin,” Right Wisconsin declared Monday evening in an official statement. In recent years, we’ve grown accustomed to being at the center of American politics, and this occasion is no different. In the next two weeks, we have the chance to stand athwart the GOP’s slouch toward the abyss and yell, ‘Stop!’

“We take our responsibility seriously; Wisconsin must be a fire wall of rationality in the madness that is the current GOP campaign. That is why we are today endorsing Ted Cruz as the only conservative who has a plausible chance to stop the political and moral disaster of a Trump nomination.”

The group, which has declared it is opposed to GOP front-runner Donald Trump, acknowledges its first two choices were Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). It is now making the decision to back Cruz solely for the purpose of averting a Trump nomination, the statement read.

“Our endorsement of Ted Cruz is both tactical and substantive,” it said. “Trump cannot win Wisconsin if conservative primary voters coalesce around a single choice. If, however, they split their votes between other candidates, Trump could sweep Wisconsin’s delegates, despite winning only a narrow plurality of the vote.

“Unfortunately, that has too often been the story of this campaign. It must stop here.”

Despite the backhanded endorsement, Right Wisconsin’s statement offered principled reasons to vote for Cruz, as opposed to simply voting against a potential Trump nomination. It references an editorial written last month by National Review that outlined the Texas senator’s “principled conservative” record.

The group has been a vocal supporter of the #NeverTrump effort. It reiterated that position in its statement, but said there is still a chance to derail the Trump Train, if principled conservatives unite and vote for Cruz.

Wisconsin sends 42 delegates to the Republican National Convention.