Rubio Campaign Press Release - Super Tuesday Was Actually Terrible for Ted Cruz — Here's Why

Since even before he launched his Presidential campaign, Ted Cruz boasted that the Super Tuesday "SEC" Primary was tailor-made for him.

But on Tuesday, despite investing in these states big time, he came up way short of expectations, winning just his home state and a neighboring state.

The map going forward is much less favorable for Cruz, which is why commentators are saying that his path to the nomination has narrowed.

Time: "Cruz's path to the nomination is now narrower."

[F]or Cruz, the victory wasn't as big as he'd hoped. Cruz had overplayed his own expectations for Super Tuesday, when many Southern states that happen to be in the SEC college athletic conference would vote. "States like Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, those are conservative states. They are evangelical states," he told CNN's State of the Union in December. "They are states where our grassroots team is incredibly strong. And I view the SEC primary as a firewall." … Cruz's path to the nomination is now narrower, something his own supporters worried about at his Tuesday rally. Of the dozen Cruz supporters TIME interviewed at the rally, 10 of them thought Trump would likely end up the nominee.

Politico: Cruz's "own people admit he's less of a threat than appearances suggest."

But even his own people admit he's less of a threat than appearances suggest. The math just doesn't quite add up for the Texas tea partier — unless tonight's victories spawn a major wave of anti-Trump momentum, spurred perhaps by the (possible) exit of fellow evangelical conservative Ben Carson. Despite the Donald's somewhat tenuous grasp of biblical chapter and verse, Trump bested Cruz with evangelicals in Southern states outside the Lone Star

Roll Call: Cruz's "inability to dominate the South calls into question whether he can catch Trump as the primaries move north and east."

Cruz had long looked to the so-called SEC primary states and their evangelical base as home turf but Trump has consistently taken those voters away from him in most states. A loss in his home state could have been a fatal blow to Cruz's campaign, and his inability to dominate the South calls into question whether he can catch Trump as the primaries move north and east, where Trump has had success and Cruz has not.

The Atlantic: "…a disappointing evening for the Cruz team."

It wasn't that long ago, however, that Cruz's advocates were touting the many contests in Southern states—the "SEC Primary"—as his firewall, where he would clean up in states heavy on evangelical voters. Judged against those expectations, it was a disappointing evening for the Cruz team.

Buzzfeed: "It's a far cry from the outcome his campaign expected when Cruz was referring to the SEC primary as his 'firewall'…"

But it's still a far cry from the outcome his campaign expected when Cruz was referring to the SEC primary as his "firewall" to a gathering of Koch network donors last summer. … Cruz is back in the spotlight now. But the problem is that the process doesn't get any more favorable to him going forward than it was on March 1.

Texas Tribune: "An otherwise disappointing night for a campaign that had hoped to be closer than ever to the nomination by now."

Ted Cruz on Tuesday added two more wins in the Republican presidential primaries, claiming victory at home and in Oklahoma in an otherwise disappointing night for a campaign that had hoped to be closer than ever to the nomination by now.

Houston Chronicle: "More problematic for Cruz were a string of defeats to Trump in most of the southern states..."

More problematic for Cruz were a string of defeats to Trump in most of the southern states that make up the so-called SEC primary, which was supposed to be his firewall against a Trump onslaught.

The Tennessean: Cruz's "finish in Tennessee was disappointing."

Cruz had circled the so-called "SEC primary" as a make-or-break date for his campaign. The firebrand, tea party-aligned senator spent the most money of all candidates on TV ads in Tennessee leading up to Tuesday. And he was the first to start building a ground game last year, thinking he could capitalize on the state's network of evangelical Christians. Though his finish in Tennessee was disappointing, Cruz used an election night speech in Stafford, Texas, to argue the race has now "narrowed considerably" as the nomination process moves to other states.

The Columbus Dispatch: "Super Tuesday was difficult for Cruz…"

Super Tuesday was difficult for Cruz, who had been pointing to what often was dubbed the SEC primary as the "firewall" where he would make his stand with fellow southern conservatives. He dodged a likely fatal bullet by holding onto Texas, plus took neighboring Oklahoma and Alaska.