Carly Fiorina speaks at state GOP convention

BURLINGAME, Calif. -    Ted Cruz’s newly-selected running mate, Carly Fiorina, addressed the California Republican state convention in Burlingame on Saturday night.  Even though her ticket is mathematically eliminated from winning in the first round of voting at the national GOP convention in July, Fiorina suggested that a contested convention would open the door for Cruz.

“It’s not a touchdown until it’s a touchdown,” Fiorina told the crowd.  “And we don’t have a nominee until that person has 1,237 votes and Donald Trump doesn’t have it, he’s not going to get it.”  1,237 is the number of delegates required for a candidate to clinch the nomination outright.   

   Menlo College Political Science professor Melissa Michelson says a victory for Cruz and Fiorina should be considered a long shot.

“It’s a very narrow path but if Donald Trump doesn’t have enough pledged delegates going into the convention, so he fails on the first vote... a lot of those delegates are released to vote as they like on the second ballot,” Michelson explained.

   Fiorina’s Bay Area visit was a homecoming of sorts, given she lived in the Bay Area and served as the CEO of Hewlett Packard.  She moved to Virginia, however, after failing to win a challenge to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in 2010.

   On Saturday, Fiorina also took the chance to take shots at the two other Republican candidates in the race, Donald Trump and John Kasich.

“Donald trump isn’t going to challenge the system... he is the system,” Fiorina said of the GOP frontrunner.  She called on Ohio Governor John Kasich to drop out of the race.  “I wish John Kasich would get the memo.  If you lose 49 out of 50 states, you will not be the nominee. It isn’t going to happen,” Fiorina said.