Cruz, Kasich, Palin Fish For GOP Votes In Wisconsin

Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich made their case for votes on Friday night during a Republican Party fish fry dinner at Serb Hall in Milwaukee.

Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Kasich, the governor of Ohio, are trying to pick up GOP delegates in Wisconsin’s primary election on Tuesday in their attempt to force Republican frontrunner Donald Trump into a convention battle this summer.

Cruz thanked Gov. Scott Walker for endorsing him this week and said Walker joins other former GOP presidential candidates in the Cruz camp.

“Of the 17 candidates who started, we’ve now seen five of those candidates come together supporting this campaign. We’ve seen Rick Perry and Carly Fiorina and Lindsey Graham and Jeb Bush and your own tremendous Gov. Scott Walker,” Cruz said.

Walker spoke just before Cruz and said the senator is a constitutional conservative who can take on the status quo and can win in the November election.

In his remarks, Kasich appealed to potential Trump voters by saying he understands them.

“Because let me tell you who they are and what they worry about,” he said. “They worry about the fact that they could lose their job. That they’re 52 years old and somebody walks in some day and says you’re out of work.”

Kasich said the changes he’s made in Ohio government has helped create jobs.

Trump skipped the dinner, but Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice president nominee, attended. She has endorsed Trump and read a speech on his behalf. Palin’s remarks criticized illegal immigration and trade deals that Trump argues have triggered jobs being sent overseas.

Palin’s speech got little reaction from the audience of about 750, many of whom appeared to save their biggest applause for Cruz.

Trump will hold three campaign rallies in Wisconsin on Saturday.