In an effort to block Donald Trump from getting the Republican nomination for President, Ohio Governor John Kasich is suspending his Presidential campaign in Indiana, thereby allowing Ted Cruz to be the alternative choice in the Hoosier state.

According to a source close to the campaign, in exchange for suspending the Indiana campaign, Cruz will cease operations in New Mexico and Oregon, thus allowing both candidates to maximize their resources in areas where they can best be used.

Because of that Kasich is suspending his town hall on Tuesday in Hamilton County and election returns watch party downtown.  However, he does plan to attend a fundraiser that evening in downtown Indianapolis.

A spokesman released the following statement, just moments ago…

“Donald Trump doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans – not even close, but he currently does have almost half the delegates because he’s benefited from the existing primary system. Our goal is to have an open convention in Cleveland, where we are confident a candidate capable of uniting the Party and winning in November will emerge as the nominee. We believe that will be John Kasich, who is the only candidate who can defeat Secretary Clinton and preserve our GOP majority in the Congress.
 
Due to the fact that the Indiana primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping him under 1237 bound delegates before Cleveland. We are very comfortable with our delegate position in Indiana already, and given the current dynamics of the primary there, we will shift our campaign’s resources West and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana.
 
In turn, we will focus our time and resources in New Mexico and Oregon, both areas that are structurally similar to the Northeast politically, where Gov. Kasich is performing well. We would expect independent third-party groups to do the same and honor the commitments made by the Cruz and Kasich campaigns.
 
We expect to compete with both the Trump and Cruz campaigns in the remaining primary states.
The most recent polling in Indiana had Kasich in third place.

<