Washington, April 28

White House hopeful Ted Cruz went all-in Wednesday as he sought to bar Donald Trump’s triumphant march to the Republican nomination, naming Carly Fiorina as his running mate as the primary race hits its final stretch.

The Texas senator made the surprise announcement a day after Trump clinched a knock-out series of wins in five states, putting him within striking distance of the nomination as all eyes turn to next week’s key vote in Indiana.

Cruz tapped the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Fiorina as his would be vice presidential pick, without waiting -- as is customary -- for the end of the primary campaign.

“Over and over again, Carly has shattered glass ceilings,” Cruz told a cheering crowd in Indianapolis as he welcomed her on stage.

Fiorina, 61, has been one of Cruz’s staunchest supporters since she abandoned her own White House bid early this year, not to mention an outspoken critic of both Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

In September she stole the show at an early presidential debate by landing stinging blows against Trump, and displaying steely confidence and command of foreign policy.

“Tough fights don’t worry me a bit,” she told the raucous Cruz rally.

“I am prepared to stand by his side and give this everything I have, to restore the soul of our party, to defeat Donald Trump, to defeat Hillary Clinton, and to take our country back.”

Fiorina would be only the third woman on the ticket in a major US political party, after vice presidential nominees Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008.

But Cruz remains far from securing the party nomination.

He is mathematically eliminated from winning the 1,237 delegates needed to prevail outright, and acknowledges his only hope would be to make it to a contested Republican convention in July, and to get a sufficient number of delegates there to vote for him.

If the Fiorina announcement was an effort to shake up the race, the Trump camp was instantly dismissive.

“This is truly one of the greatest acts of desperation I have ever seen,” Trump’s son Eric posted on Twitter.