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Cruz Seeks Trump Showdown With Bid to Knock Out Rubio in Florida

  • Third-place Texan playing spoiler in winner-takes-all state
  • The strategy: weaken Rubio by denying him a home-turf win
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Will Marco Rubio Pull Out of Florida?

James Nash

Ted Cruz is campaigning aggressively to deny Marco Rubio any chance of a home state win in Florida’s Republican primary, in the hopes of knocking his rival out of the race so the Texan is left as the party’s sole challenger to billionaire Donald Trump.

Cruz’s associates said that the strategy could mean Cruz ends up playing the spoiler in a state where he’s polling in distant third place, ultimately set up a one-on-one showdown with Trump for the Republican nomination.