Jeb Bush to Meet With Trump Opponents Ahead of Florida Primary Happening on March 15th

© AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File FILE – In this Feb. 20, 2016 file photo, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks at his South Carolina Republican presidential primary rally in Columbia, S.C. An aide with Bush’s failed bid for…

Jeb Bush plans to meet with former rivals for the Republican presidential nomination Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich this week in Miami, a spokeswoman said.

Florida, which Bush once governed, holds a crucial primary on March 15. That contest could set up a one-on-one showdown between Cruz and billionaire Donald Trump if native son Rubio falters there. Kasich has said he’ll drop out of the race if he doesn’t win his home-state primary in Ohio that same day.

Bush, who dropped out after a poor showing in South Carolina last month, hasn’t endorsed any candidate yet—including Rubio, whom he mentored in the Florida statehouse years ago. His plans, reported earlier Wednesday by the Washington Post, were confirmed by aide Kristy Campbell.

Cruz campaigned on Wednesday in Miami, where Bush lives. At Miami-Dade College downtown, Cruz said the results of Tuesday’s nominating contests—where Trump dominated three states while Cruz won one—show that he’s the only remaining bona fide challenger to Trump.

“It is a simple question of math whether or not a candidate can get to 1,237 delegates,” Cruz said. The race “will end up one-on-one with me and Donald Trump. Head to head, we win.”

SOURCE: Michael C. Bender, Mike Nizza, Elizabeth Titus
—With assistance from James Nash.