U.S. election: Candidates make final push ahead of N.Y. primaries

Ted Cruz has nailed down all 14 Wyoming Republican delegates up for grabs at the state party convention on Saturday, leaving Donald Trump facing yet another loss in a string of defeats in western states.

Saturday's sweep follows Cruz's victory last month in Wyoming, when he scored 9 of 12 available delegates at county conventions.

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Trump and Marco Rubio each won one delegate last month in Wyoming while one remained undecided.

Cruz was the only candidate to address the convention crowd in Casper, Wyo., on Saturday, promising to end what he called U.S. President Barack Obama's "war on coal" if he's elected.

"America is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and we are going to develop our industry," Cruz said.

Trump had originally planned to send former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who remains popular among conservatives, as a surrogate, but she cancelled at the last minute.

Trump again calls process 'rigged'

Cruz is trying to prevent Trump from obtaining the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination at the July convention in Cleveland. By continuing to rack up small wins, Cruz is gaining ground on the New York real estate mogul, who has thus far failed to shift his focus on the local-level campaigning necessary to win delegates.

Trump has been critical of the process, again on Saturday calling it "rigged" while speaking at a rally in Syracuse, New York ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday. He has repeatedly complained about Colorado, which awarded all 34 of its delegates to Cruz despite not holding a popular vote.

Trump said his supporters are becoming increasingly angry with states such as Wyoming and Colorado.

"They're going nuts out there; they're angry," Trump said. "The bosses took away their vote, and I wasn't going to send big teams of people three, four months ago, have them out there."

While Trump has won 21 state-nominating contests to Cruz's 10, the billionaire leads the Texas senator by only 185 delegates (744 to 559). That means he must win nearly 60 per cent of those remaining before the July convention.

'Medieval values'

But not everyone has been welcoming Trump as he makes his way throughout New York state.

CBC News spoke to a local politician from Albany who is calling on Trump to "stop terrorizing Americans."

Judd Krasher, a member of council in the city, wrote an open letter to Trump, in which he took the Republican presidential candidate to task over statements that some see as offensive to immigrants.

During a campaign rally in Albany last Monday, the New York businessman reiterated a promise to build a wall on the U.S. southern border and make Mexico pay for it.

"Enjoy your time in a city that shares none of your medieval values," Krasher wrote. "Know that while you are bloviating on stage [...] the families and communities our immigrants, ethnic minorities, and religious minorities build are infinitely more beautiful than any Trump structure.

"Before you lose your bid to become president, I sincerely hope you will stop terrorizing Americans," he added.

Krasher told CBC News that he represents "an extremely diverse district" in Albany.

He said some immigrants who have spoken to him are worried about Trump's "hateful rhetoric" and say "if Trump becomes president their families will be sent away."

Democratic race

On the Democratic side, front-runner Hillary Clinton is out on the West Coast and spoke at a rally in Los Angeles. On Friday night, she attended a campaign fundraiser in San Francisco hosted by George and Amal Clooney at the home of a venture capitalist, as dozens of supporters of rival Bernie Sanders protested nearby.

The Clooneys were also opening their Los Angeles home Saturday night for a dinner with Clinton that will double as a fundraiser.

Sanders took a hiatus from campaigning to visit the Vatican, where he briefly met with Pope Francis. He will return to New York later this weekend.

Despite being out of the country, Sanders netted a few extra delegates at Colorado's Democratic state convention — though it's not having a real impact on his chances to win the presidential nomination.

Colorado has a multi-step process of allocating delegates. Based on the March 1 caucus, Sanders initially picked up 38 delegates to Hillary Clinton's 28. Since then, Sanders has won additional support at congressional district conventions and Saturday's state convention, resulting in a few more delegates.

The final delegate allocation for Colorado: 41 for Sanders, 25 for Clinton.

That means, to date, Clinton has 1,289 delegates from primaries and caucuses to Sanders' 1,045. When including superdelegates — party officials who can support any candidate and can also change their allegiance at the national convention — Clinton has 1,758 to Sanders' 1,076.