Could Rick Perry’s Lost Ballot Signal an Independent Run?

This week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune.  

By Rhonda FanningApril 1, 2016 11:07 am,

Today is April Fool’s Day but some recent political headlines may have led you to believe the joke’s been going on all week. Here to help us tell fact from fiction is Aman Batheja, politics reporter for the Texas Tribune.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is angling for a brokered convention with a big push before the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, April 5. He and John Kasich will attend the Milwaukee County Republican Party Dinner this weekend. Batheja says Wisconsin is a big deal for Ted Cruz.

“(Cruz)’s still way behind in delegates… but if he can win Wisconsin definitively,” Batheja says, “it really gives him momentum going into the convention.”

Right after Wisconsin comes the Northeast, Batheja says, where Trump is likely to do well. Cruz will still be competitive going into the convention, but it will need a brokered convention.

“At this point, everyone I’ve talked to seems to think a brokered convention is inevitable,” Batheja says. “The whole goal right now is to keep Donald Trump from getting enough delegates so he wins the nomination outright… That first ballot, there’s not enough support for Trump. Then, it’s the Wild West for them.”

Speaking of the Wild West, Rick Perry’s mail-in ballot has gone missing, according to a tip that Texas Tribune reporter Terri Langford got.

“He swears he filled it out and mailed it in, but there’s no record that they ever got it,” Batheja says. “There has been some speculation that this might have been to open the door for an independent run for president, because in Texas you can’t run for an independent presidency if you voted in one of the primaries. In all likelihood that’s not the case – this really just a goof of some (kind).”

Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.