Texas Sen. Ted Cruz claimed a win in North Dakota’s Republican convention on Sunday, where the party elected 25 undeclared delegates to attend this summer’s national nominating convention.

“I’m thrilled to have the vote of confidence of Republican voters in North Dakota who delivered such a resounding victory today,” Cruz said in a statement on his website headlined, “Cruz Declared Winner in North Dakota.”

“As I met them over the weekend, North Dakota Republicans recognized that I am the only candidate who can move this country forward by protecting freedom and liberty,” Cruz said. “Whether we defeat Donald Trump before the convention or at it, I’m energized to have the support of the vast majority of North Dakota delegates.”

Technically, Cruz won no delegates in North Carolina, but neither did front-runner Donald Trump or Ohio Gov. John Kasich, whose only hope at the nomination is that neither Cruz nor Trump secures enough delegates before the convention begins to win the needed 1,237 required to take the nomination on the first ballot.

Unlike pledged delegates elected by most states, North Dakota’s 25 delegates can vote for anyone they please at Cleveland’s convention on the first vote, and are likely to hear from all three campaigns pitching their candidates up until that time.

The New York Times reported a battle over whether the delegates should be pledged or unpledged, and Cruz likely sees the result as a win because the state’s “North Dakota Nice” image likely doesn’t mesh as well with Trump’s brash persona.

Trump and Kasich may not consider the outcome a win for themselves. Neither had commented on social media about North Dakota late Sunday.

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/cruz-win-delegates-north-dakota/2016/04/03/id/722077/