Special Election Coverage: The Indiana Primary

Catch up with these interviews from NPR's Indiana primary night special coverage, hosted by Scott Detrow.

Randy Gentry, Vigo County GOP chair and Trump supporter

On a recent shift in Indiana for Trump

I think there was some missteps by the Cruz campaign. After coming off six consecutive losses, he comes to the state of Indiana and names a VP candidate. I don't think that Carly Fiorina really would help him much, that was my initial assessment. I think it actually kind of hurt him ... Just over the last 24 to 36 hours, whole demeanor seemed to change ... People started to realize that Donald Trump was going to pull this out.

Craig Dunn, Howard County GOP chair and Kasich supporter

On Cruz's performance in Indiana

As the week unfurled with the announcement of Carly Fiorina ... the problem we ran into is that it was so unheard of to do something like that at this point in time that I think the public may have taken that as another act of desperation on the part of Cruz. And then when he turned nasty and tried to go toe-to-toe with the Trump people, the protesters, you just can't do it and it was a terrible mistake. Everybody that tries to engage in direct combat with Trump people comes out the lesser for it and I think that's what he experienced.

Nina Turner, former Ohio state senator and Sanders supporter

On appealing to superdelegates

If they really are concerned about what happens in the general election, if they're concerned about what happens to our sisters and brothers who are running for school board, for mayor, for council, and even for those folks running for the Congress, then the superdelegates ought to take a very strong look at Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has consistently been ahead of every single Republican that is still in that race ... Who's the candidate that can bring in the independents? That is Sen. Bernie Sanders. Who is the candidate that has sparked light into our millennials? It is Sen. Bernie Sanders. And more importantly, that particular group — they are the future of the Democratic primary and by extension, they are the future of America.

Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute and Cruz supporter

On Trump winning Indiana

It's surprising to me that Sen. Cruz did not do better. He ran a great campaign. He spent a lot of time here, he was in many different communities. I took part in five or six rallies to help warm up the crowd ... crowds were enthusiastic and good turnout. It just seems to be the night of the populist here in Indiana.

Bill Kintner, Nebraska state senator and member of Cruz's Nebraska leadership team

On the Nebraska primary

There's a pretty high number of conservative Republicans in Nebraska that don't trust New Yorkers. But there's also people that want to get on the bandwagon and they're going to say, 'This thing's over, I may as well vote for him, let's get it over and move on and unite the party.' I'm not sure which one of those two wins out.

John Murante, Nebraska state senator and Nebraska chair for Cruz campaign

On why Trump's support is growing

It's true that Donald Trump did very well over a couple of weeks in very liberal, Northeastern states. It would have been nice to have Indiana join the many conservative Republican states, the red states in this country, who are supporting Ted Cruz. But at the end of the day, I don't think anyone has ever said, "As goes Indiana, so goes the nation."

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