NASHVILLE – With their top three presidential candidates now in a full-fledged brawl, Tennessee Republicans on Tuesday will decide whether to help front-runner Donald Trump solidify his lead, support rivals Ted Cruz or
Marco Rubio, or go with low-ranking-but-still-running Ben Carson or John Kasich.
For state Democrats, the question is whether to help front-runner Hillary Clinton maintain her Southern “firewall” in Super Tuesday primaries or assist Sen. Bernie Sanders in breaching it.
Trump, Cruz and Rubio, along with three super PACs, are hoping to influence voters’ choices with a last-minute, statewide TV ad blitz. Some Rubio ads feature Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, who unexpectedly endorsed the Florida senator last week.
Neither Kasich, who was in Nashville on Saturday, nor Carson, whose wife, Candy, is expected to speak for her husband at Lee University in Cleveland on Monday, are running ads.