Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Polls Closing in Indiana Where Trump Hopes to Crush Cruz by VOA News Republican frontrunner Donald Trump seems headed for a big victory in Midwestern state of Indiana where polls were beginning to close Tuesday evening. Trump is in a showdown with his closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz. All but one pre-election survey in Indiana shows Trump leading Cruz, some by large margins, others less so. A victory in Indiana would give the billionaire candidate 57 more delegates - not enough to reach the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination - but enough to put Trump on a glide path to sewing it up before the July national convention in Cleveland. "If we win Indiana, it's over," Trump told voters in the politically conservative, where vast reaches of farmland intersect with industrial centers. Exit polls showed that the economy was foremost in the minds of Indiana voters. More than 9 in 10 Republican primary voters and more than 8 in 10 Democratic primary voters said they were very or somewhat worried about the economy, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research. Last minute campaigning Cruz, a conservative firebrand in the halls of Congress in Washington, has campaigned for a week in Indiana, urging voters to support him in an effort to stop Trump from claiming a first-ballot nomination victory at the national convention. But Cruz has acknowledged that he needs to halt Trump's march to the nomination, saying, "We're at the edge of a cliff and staring down." Trump has won the last six state nominating contests over Cruz and another Republican contender, Ohio Governor John Kasich. Trump, a one-time television reality show host who has never held elective office, seemed confident enough of an Indiana victory that he focused attacks at his closing rally on the likely Democratic presidential nominee, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They would face each other in November's national election if both eventually secure their parties' presidential nominations. Trump told supporters he could defeat her in states Republicans do not normally win, even as early election surveys suggest otherwise. He disparaged Clinton's performance as the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, saying she was asleep during part of a 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans. Lumping Trump with Clinton In a campaign blitz through several Indiana cities in the final hours before the primary, Cruz lumped Trump and Clinton together as he made a last-minute appeal for Republican support. "Do you want to turn on the television and see a president, Republican or Democrat, who embarrasses you?" he asked. Cruz is desperate for a win in Indiana that would make it more difficult for Trump to secure the nomination. "I'm not getting to 1,237 delegates and Donald J. Trump is not getting to 1,237 delegates. And the Hoosier [Indiana] state is going to have a powerful voice in making that clear," Cruz told supporters in Indianapolis. Pre-election polls show Clinton locked in a tight Democratic contest in Indiana with her lone challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. But Clinton remains far ahead of him in winning delegates to the party's July national nominating convention in Philadelphia. Clinton, however, has yet to clinch the party nomination as she seeks to become the country's first female president. The winner of the November election will replace President Barack Obama as he leaves office in January after eight years in the White House. __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/indiana-primary-votes/3314074.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/indiana-primary-votes/3314074.html