There is no question that thus far, Donald Trump has earned the majority of the popular vote. His odds for being the next US President are currently at +475. However, Hillary Clinton also won the popular vote in 2008 when she ran against Barak Obama, but the delegate process favored Obama who ended up as the nominee.

Cruz is being praised for his highly organized ground strategy that has secured state delegates that would come into play should there be a contested convention. Of course, this effort will only pay off should Trump fail to reach the 1237 delegates required to become the Republican nominee.

Ted Cruz is literally racking up the state delegates that would be utilized to vote during a contested convention. These delegates are bound to the voter results in each state on the first ballot.

However, should a contested convention take place, these delegates are then free to vote for the candidate of their choice on a second ballot or any thereafter. Cruz has been very successful at securing his supporters as state delegates in Colorado, Wyoming and Washington state, among others.

We have heard Trump cry foul and try to disparage Cruz’ success with accusations that he is doing something unethical. However, Cruz is simply demonstrating his sound understanding of the rules and how to play the game with skill.

Nothing is being ‘stolen’ or ‘hidden’ from Trump, he simply lacks an understanding of the process in its entirety. Cruz’ strategy is to get his supporters elected as state delegates even in the states where Trump has already won.

While lining up delegates for the state conventions has been a priority for the Cruz campaign, Sen. Dough Ericksen, a state leadership team member for the Trump campaign, indicated that competing hard in the primary is what matters most.

This perception is demonstrated by the Trump camp with late starts in their efforts, including emails that were sent to Trump supporters urging them to participate as state delegates nearly two days after the deadline for them to appear on the delegate ballots had passed.

The Cruz campaign’s organizational skills are paying off at the county and regional conventions as they rack up state delegates right and left. Observers in the state of Washington remarked that the Cruz staff was noticeably more organized and effective at every turn as compared to both Trump’s and Kasich’s campaigns.

These lower profile caucus ad convention contests that Cruz is sweeping will have a strong overall impact on the outcome of the Republican presidential nomination. Will it be enough to ‘trump’ Trump as the frontrunner and winner of the popular vote in most states? The Cruz camp is confident that it will and that he has a fighting chance at becoming the Republican presidential nominee.