Why Cruz is Winning

Wisconsin produced the expected—and needed—wins for the challengers and disappointing upsets for the front-runners Tuesday. Ted Cruz won 36 of the state’s 42 delegates, with the balance awarded to Donald Trump, narrowing their delegate gap and increasing the likelihood of a contested convention. Cruz showed the first signs of building a broad party coalition against Trump, winning nearly all demographic groups and putting up his best numbers among non-evangelical voters of the cycle. As the map shifts eastward, he will find himself in greater competition with John Kasich, who pulled out of Wisconsin but may be stronger in the coming states. Trump’s campaign responded to the loss with an unusual statement calling Cruz a “Trojan horse candidate” for the GOP establishment and accused him—without any evidence—of violating election law by allegedly coordinating with his super PAC.

Across the aisle, Bernie Sanders got his latest victory, narrowing Hillary Clinton‘s pledged delegate lead and exposing some gaps in her coalition. But the delegate split was still favorable to Clinton and her path to the nomination has been elongated rather than put into question. In a new interview, Clinton is expressing frustration about the race with Sanders, suggesting once again that the avowed socialist isn’t truly a Democrat. It reflects the increasingly bitter tone of the race, which has no sign of ending as Sanders’ financial juggernaut keeps him around even without a clear delegate path.

President Obama weighs in on Donald Trump’s plans to block remittances to Mexico to force the country to pay for the border wall. With two weeks of campaigning before the primary, New York prepares for a wacky race. And a Trump backer sends a threat to delegates.

Here are your must-reads:

Must Reads

Wisconsin Voters Boost Cruz, Sanders
The campaign rolls on [TIME]

Meet the Members of Donald Trump’s Television Army
TIME’s Tessa Berenson on the reality TV star’s on-air backers

Hillary Clinton Has Had Enough of Bernie Sanders
She says she’s not even sure he’s a Democrat [Politico]

Democratic Superdelegates Pressured to Shift Stance After String of Sanders Wins
Vermont senator’s recent victories have left some Democrats defending their decision to back Hillary Clinton at party’s convention [Wall Street Journal]

Sound Off

“They don’t expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can’t afford that.” — President Obama warning that Trump and Cruz policy positions are giving world leaders pause

“Hillary, get ready, here we come.” — A victorious Ted Cruz putting the cart before the horse after his Wisconsin win

Bits and Bites

State Department Wants Limits on Questioning of Clinton Aides [Politico]

Gary Johnson, Libertarian Candidate, Sees Opening Created by Donald Trump [New York Times]

Clinton Says Sanders Hasn’t ‘Done His Homework’ on Bank Regulation [TIME]

Roger Stone Threatens to Send Trump Supporters to Delegate Hotel Rooms [Politico]

Trump Shows New Vulnerabilities — And Has Only Himself to Blame [Washington Post]

Donald Trump Settled a Real Estate Lawsuit, and a Criminal Case Was Closed [New York Times]

Donald Trump to Hold Large Rally on Long Island [New York Times]

How Megyn Kelly Survived Donald Trump [Variety]