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Ted Cruz names Carly Fiorina as Republican running mate

Updated / Wednesday, 27 Apr 2016 23:15
Ted Cruz and Carly Florina speaking at a campaign rally in Florida last month
Ted Cruz and Carly Florina speaking at a campaign rally in Florida last month

United States Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has named former business executive Carly Fiorina to be his vice-presidential running mate if he wins the nomination. 

After suffering a series of crushing losses to Republican rival Donald Trump in nominating contests, Mr Cruz praised Ms Fiorina as a principled fighter for conservative values who knew how to create jobs. He said she would be a valuable ally on the campaign trail. 

Mr Cruz said: "She is careful. She is measured. She is serious. She doesn't get rattled."

Ms Fiorina, 61, dropped her own bid for the White House in February after finishing seventh-place in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation-primary.

She endorsed Mr Cruz a month later and has been a sharp critic on the campaign trail of likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. 

Trump big step closer to Republican nomination

Meanwhile, five more states went to the polls in the United States last night and there were yet more overwhelming victories for frontrunners Mr Trump and Ms Clinton.

Mr Trump swept all five states, while in the Democratic Party Mrs Clinton was victorious in four state contests, with Bernie Sanders winning one.

At his post-primary victory rally, Mr Trump said that he "absolutely" now considered himself to be the Republican party's presumptive nominee.

The billionaire businessman had a sweeping victory winning all five states at the polls - Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Winning them by such significant margins, there is now a real likelihood that he could have enough pledged delegates to become the Republican nominee at the end of the primary season - eliminating the possibility of a contested convention.

What does last night's outcome mean?

For the Democratic Party, Mr Sanders won Rhode Island, but Mrs Clinton won the other four states, including Pennsylvania, which brings one of the largest delegate counts and extended her lead significantly.

Afterwards Senator Sanders released a statement to say he was staying in the race.

However, he hinted that it was more about preserving democracy and giving voters in the remaining 14 states a contest, rather than still seeing a path to victory for himself.

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