Wisconsin primary: Front-runners face speed bumps

Wisconsin is a key state in the 2016 race for the White House as Trump looks to hold off Ted Cruz and avoid a contested convention in July. For Clinton, the big need is stem any tide of Bernie Sanders' support that keeps her from turning her attention to the general election.

In his last minute efforts to woo voters, Trump, 69, addressed a series of rallies in Wisconsin hoping to bridge the gap with Cruz, 45, who is expected to win this crucial state, according to latest polls.

But Trump is confident about his victory. "I can be presidential, but if I was presidential I would only have — about 20 percent of you would be here because it would be boring as hell, I will say," he said.

"We started off with 17 people and now got two left. I call them the leftovers, right? I now have two left and we’re way up on both of them," he said.

A Trump loss in Wisconsin, experts and US media said, would very well reset the Republican presidential race.

While it would not throw him out of the race, but would make things difficult for him on the path to winning the party's presidential nomination by gaining 1,237 delegates.

A loss would highly increase the chances of a contested convention in Cleveland in July, which Trump wants to avoid as the party establishment are likely to outmaneuver if he does not reach the half way mark.

"A loss for Trump in particular could reset a Republican contest that has been dominated by his outsider candidacy and outsize media presence," The Washington Post

reported.

Clinton, 68, is in a similarly tight race with Senator Sanders. Winning Wisconsin would give Sanders a fresh dose of momentum — and perhaps new credibility for his claim that he can catch Clinton in the delegate count and win the Democratic nomination.

According to RealClearPolitics, which tracks major opinion polls, Cruz was leading with 39 per cent of the expected Republican voters in Wisconsin, while Trump had the

support of 34.9 per cent.

"Trailing in Wisconsin polls, GOP (Republican) front-runner faces an increasingly difficult delegate fight," The Wall Street Journal said, adding that a loss in

Wisconsin’s primary would make Trump's path to clinching the Republican presidential nomination before the party’s July convention increasingly narrow.

If Trump claims no delegates in Wisconsin, he would have to win 70 per cent of the remaining bound delegates, the financial daily said.

On the other hand, Sanders is leading the polls in Wisconsin but by a smaller margin. In the Fox Business poll, Sanders received 48 per cent of the vote and Clinton 43 percent.

A Policy Polling survey, conducted on behalf of VoteVets Action Fund, finds Sanders is the favourite in the Democratic primary, leading Clinton 49-43.

Trump currently has 736 delegates to Cruz's 463. Kasich has 143 delegates. Among Democrats, Clinton has 1,712 delegates, including 469 super delegates, leaving her 671 short of the number needed for the nomination. Sanders has 1,011 but only 31 super delegates.