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Ted Cruz in Pennsylvania picks up where he left off — courting evangelicals and conservatives A day after Donald Trump flattened him in New York, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fought back against the

perception that his campaign cannot compete in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that have become essential to his tenuous claim on the Republican presidential nomination. “Let me tell

you what Donald and the media want to convince everyone, that Pennsylvania is a suburb of Manhattan,” Cruz told a friendly crowd at an antique car museum Wednesday morning. “I’ve got a lot

more faith in the people of Pennsylvania.” Baiting New York hurt Cruz on Tuesday — he won zero delegates in the state — but it won him applause here in Hershey, not far from the eponymous

chocolate factory and theme park. It is surrounded by the amber fields and rolling hills of farm country. Opinion polls show Cruz lagging Trump in Pennsylvania and four other states —

Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Maryland — that will hold GOP primaries on April 26. To win the nomination, Cruz is counting on a bank-shot strategy that requires him to gain on

Trump in those states and others still to vote, including California. Cruz also is relying on using complicated delegate systems in each state to boost his tally in hopes that he can prevail

in a contested convention in Cleveland this summer. To do that, he needs to stop Trump from winning 1,237 delegates ahead of the convention, and prevent the billionaire businessman from

cementing the perception that he is the presumptive nominee. “I would hope that New York is a blip,” said Kathleen Skobieranda, a 53-year-old homemaker who attended Cruz’s event Tuesday

night in Philadelphia and is deciding between him and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Cruz won in Wisconsin two weeks ago, giving his campaign a much-needed boost. The cowboy-boot-wearing Texan has

stayed on Trump’s heels by portraying himself as an outsider in Washington and emphasizing his deeply conservative interpretation of the Constitution and his evangelical values. The

Northeast has fewer evangelicals than the South and Midwest, making the challenge more difficult for Cruz. Religious conservatives remain a crucial part of his coalition. Several pockets of

central Pennsylvania, centered around Lancaster, are deeply religious. “The big problem I see is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,” said Brenda Oren, a 56-year-old home-schooling mother from

Harrisburg who came to Wednesday’s rally. She said she knows many religious conservatives who will support Cruz. “Hopefully, there are enough to put him over.” Anne Grable, 66, another

religious conservative supporter from nearby Mechanicsburg, agrees that Cruz faces difficult political terrain in the Northeast. But she is surprised he is not showing more strength. “I am

shocked that he’s not having more support than he is with all the conservative Christians in the Northeast,” said Grable, who sat in the front row Wednesday and wore a large Cruz pin on her

Cruz T-shirt that matched her Cruz hat . Cruz walked on stage with the Alan Jackson country song “Where I Come From” blasting on the amplifiers. Cruz stuck largely to his stump speech —

which emphasizes national security, job creation, religious liberty and constitutional conservatism — with a few nods to the local region, including pointing out that he has a nephew who

works in a chocolate factory. Lowman Henry, his state chairman, said Cruz would run aggressive campaigns for delegates in state congressional districts. Pennsylvania allows voters to vote

for delegates directly on the ballot. The ballots do not specify which candidate delegates support, so supporters of Cruz, Trump and Kasich are all trying to ensure their voters know who to

pick. The Cruz campaign aims to elect delegates who promise to support him on the first or second ballot in Cleveland, regardless of whether he wins Pennsylvania. Cruz’s best hopes in

attracting voters here may lie with Tea Party supporters who care most about a strict fealty to a constitutional interpretation that values limited government. “It’s not about evangelicals.

It’s about him being a constitutional conservative here,” said Vonne Andring, Cruz’s state director. She emphasized she was giving her personal opinion and was not in charge of Cruz’s

strategy. Many Cruz supporters here point to Cruz’s tenure as Texas solicitor general, when he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and filed briefs on behalf of several conservative causes.

He was introduced Wednesday by Henry, the Pennsylvania state chairman, as “our nation’s foremost defender of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” Lowman also noted that Cruz kicked off

his official campaign here Tuesday, before the New York results were announced, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. John Rentschler, who wore colonial garb and a

tri-cornered hat to Wednesday’s rally, cited the Constitution as his chief concern. “Ted Cruz is the only one who seems to revere it,” said Rentschler, 32. Many supporters believe Cruz can

shift his emphasis here to broaden his appeal. But they warn against changing his message, which depends on convincing conservatives that he is sincere and unyielding. His speech Tuesday

night was unusual for a candidate known best for his take-no-prisoners call to partisans. It was a soaring testimony to American potential — with references to John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama

and the moon landing — that served as a call for unity. Sam Goykhman, a Philadelphia supporter who attended the event, said it might help if Cruz altered his tone a bit. “But if he goes away

from his main objective, everyone will say he changed his views.”