Sweetwater GOP backs Cruz

In a single vote, delegates attending the Sweetwater GOP's county convention decided to support Sen. Ted Cruz as their preferred presidential nominee.

With a total of 45 votes, Cruz secured a majority of county delegates. Rock Springs resident Nolan Leatham was selected to support Cruz and be one of 29 Wyoming delegates sent to the Republican National Convention, which takes place in Cleveland, Ohio July 18-21.

According to Sweetwater GOP chairman Bill Hooley, a majority vote of 50 percent, plus one vote was needed, otherwise the delegates would have voted a second time. Out of 89 delegates, Cruz secured 50.5 percent of the votes.

Marco Rubio, who ended his presidential campaign Tuesday, received 28 votes, while Donald Trump received 16.

Cruz fared well in other GOP county conventions across the state, earning a total of nine delegates. Rubio and Trump each received one delegate from the Cowboy State, while one delegate will attend the convention undeclared. Another 14 delegates will be elected during the GOP's state convention April 14-16 in Casper. The final three delegate slots will be filled by the state GOP chairman and the national committeeman and committeewoman.

Prior to the convention's delegate vote, Ed Buchanan, chair for Cruz's Wyoming campaign, former state representative and past Speaker of the House from Torrington, spoke to Sweetwater GOP delegates about his reasons for supporting Cruz. He said Cruz's values most closely match his own views and said his experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court and experience working under former Chief Justice William Rehnquist gives him a great background in supporting many conservative causes. Buchanan also said he admires Cruz for standing up to both Democrats and members of his own party when they propose an action that would go against the Constitution and believes he will fight for the residents of Wyoming.

"I'm not here talking to you off of a piece of paper from the Cruz campaign," Buchanan told county delegates. "He's going to fight for us here."

While the other campaigns did not send speakers to address Sweetwater delegates, the delegates selected to represent other presidential candidates did speak to support those candidates. Island Richards told GOP voters he supports Rubio because he can relate to experiences he has in common with him, as well as Rubio's track record in working to pass legislation in both Florida and Washington, D.C. Jack Volsey, a Trump supporter, said he has supported Trump since before he announced his intent to run for office. He believes Trump could beat either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton in the general election and thinks Trump is the person who could broker deals to help the country.