Ted Cruz Is Facing An Uphill Battle In Maryland

Tuesday's Acela Primary is fast upon us, and voters are hitting the polls in five different states. Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are all holding their primaries on April 26, and hold a large pool of delegates to be won by candidates of both parties. Combined, there are 118 total delegates available to the GOP, and 384 delegates at stake for the Democrats. With so many states voting this Tuesday, and a primary race that's getting heated for both parties, will Ted Cruz win in Maryland?

Based on the most recent polls ahead of the Maryland primary, it's not looking so good for the Texas senator. One poll puts businessman Donald Trump in the lead in Maryland with 41 percent of voter support, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is in second with 27 percent of voter support. Cruz is in last in the state, with 23 percent. That's a 14-point margin between Trump and Cruz, so Cruz is probably not going to win in Maryland, though it's possible for him to at least grab a few delegates. Maryland holds 38 of the 118 total delegates that are available to the GOP on Tuesday, and while he probably won't win too many of them, Cruz has at least a slight chance of taking a few.

Maryland holds the second largest number of available delegates for GOP candidates. With 38 delegates available in the state, 14 of them are allocated on a winner-take-all basis based on the statewide vote, while the remaining 24 are winner-take-all depending on how each district votes. So, while Cruz probably won't be taking the 14 statewide delegates, he might be able to snag at least a few of the 24 remaining if he can get a couple districts in his favor. However, even that is an unlikely projection. According to a recent Monmouth University poll, Trump has a good chance of winning most — if not all — of the eight congressional districts in Maryland.

Donald Trump is currently in the lead in his delegate count, but he won't necessarily take the Republican nomination so easily. He holds 845 delegates, with 1,237 needed to secure the nomination to avoid a contested convention in July. Cruz is behind Trump with 559 delegates, and Kasich trailing with 148 delegates. Tuesday's primaries are important to Trump's campaign — if he doesn't take as many delegates as possible, he could end up losing everything.

Cruz isn't likely to win big on Tuesday in Maryland or any of the other Northeastern states, but even if he did, is he really a better choice than Trump? We will leave that up to the voters.