Indiana is home to 167,000 Latino eligible voters, and while not all of the electorate will turnout on Tuesday, the Indiana primary will still play a crucial role in Ted Cruz's presidential aspirations.

Trump to Retain Front-Runner Status

Based on polling data prior to the May 3 primary, Donald Trump appears to comfortably win the Indiana Republican presidential primary. Although Cruz has campaigned hard in Indiana, even naming his vice presidential pick in the Hoosier State with former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, the latest Gravis Marketing poll has Trump ahead by 17-percentage points. Conducted between April 28 and April 29 with 379 likely Republican voters, Trump received support from 44 percent of supporters, ahead of Cruz's 27 percent, while Ohio Gov. John Kasich attracted 9 percent.

Trump's lead was echoed in the NBC News, Wall Street Journal and Marist University poll, which he led Cruz by 15-percentage points. With 645 likely Republican voters, 49 percent favored the New York businessman compared to 34 percent for the junior Texas senator and 13 percent for the Ohio governor.

On Tuesday morning, Cruz attacked Trump for statements alleging his father, Rafael Cruz, was connected with Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed President John F. Kennedy.

"I'm gonna tell you what I really think of Donald Trump: This man is a pathological liar," said Cruz from Indiana. "He doesn't know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth, and in a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying."

In the Republican race, Indiana offers 57 delegates, largely proportional. Trump currently leads the overall delegate count with 996 delegates, based on RealClearPolitics projections, ahead of 565 delegates for Cruz and 153 delegates for Kasich. The Republican presidential candidate requires 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination.

Clinton Moving on to General Election

Although she hasn't clinched the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is already preparing for the general presidential election.

Indiana offers 83 pledged delegates, which will be distributed proportionally. Based on surveys, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., might have an advantage, especially as Indiana is an open primary, unlike the last five primaries (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania) that saw him lose.

The Marist University, Wall Street Journal and NBC News survey has Clinton with a narrow lead, 4-percentage points, over Sanders. She received 50 percent to his 46 percent among 645 likely Democratic voters.

In CBS News and YouGov's survey conducted between April 20 and April 22 with 439 likely voters, Clinton attracted 49 percent to Sanders' 44 percent.

"Winning Indiana tomorrow night would not only cut into Secretary Clinton's lead, but it would send a powerful message to the political establishment and corporate media who just want this race to end so they can get on with the ratings and fundraising bonanza that would be a Clinton v. Trump general election," the Sanders campaign emailed to supporters.

"Let's be clear. It is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to win all of the pledged delegates she needs to capture the nomination without the help of superdelegates at the convention," Sanders Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement. "That means every vote we receive, every delegate we win between now and July strengthens our hand as we get to a contested convention."

Based on RealClearPolitics projections, the Democratic presidential candidate requires 2,382 delegates to clinch the nomination. Clinton's pledged delegate count stands at 1,645 delegates, and Sanders has 1,318 delegates. Superdelegates, however, surges Clinton to 2,165 delegates compared to 1,357 delegates for Sanders.

Indiana polling locations close at 6 p.m. local time.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.