Ted Cruz downplays Nevada loss, looks ahead to Super Tuesday

On Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the Nevada caucuses, but he quickly moved on to the next big contest in the Republican presidential race: Super Tuesday. "One week from today is the most important night of the campaign," Cruz told his supporters. With a huge amount of delegates at stake, voters "can choose between two Washington deal-makers," he added, apparently referring to Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio, or they can vote for a "consistent conservative" like himself.

Cruz said that the purpose of the first four nominating contests is to winnow down the field, and though Trump has won three of the four primaries and caucuses, he won the fourth. "The only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump, and the only campaign that can beat Donald Trump, is this campaign," he noted. He predicted that he will cobble together victories on Super Tuesday by reassembling the "Reagan coalition," including conservatives, libertarians, and "Reagan Democrats." He even borrowed Ronald Reagan's famous phrase to turn his loss in Nevada into a victory of sorts: "Tonight, we are one step closer to morning in America."

With 17 percent of Nevada precincts counted, Cruz is in third place with 20 percent of the vote, trailing Trump (46 percent) and Rubio (23 percent). "I want to thank the people of Nevada," Cruz said, "and I have to say, I cannot wait to get home to the great state of Texas."