Ted Cruz's campaign gaining momentum

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The possibility for a contested Republican convention is growing.

Front-runner Donald Trump needs 62 percent of the delegates available to clinch the nomination. It's a feat seeming all the more difficult given rival Ted Cruz's recent run.

The Cruz campaign can't overstate it. With wins in Utah and Wisconsin and now sweeping the delegates in Colorado, the Texas Senator's bid to win the nomination is alive and well.

"We've had tremendous momentum the past few weeks," said campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart. "People are coalescing behind Ted. His message is resonating with people."

Cruz trails Trump in total delegates, but if Trump doesn't reach the needed 1,237 before the convention it gets tricky.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay supports Cruz and says the first-term Senator has a real shot at the GOP nomination.

"My prediction is we're going to an open convention that will be very close in the number of delegates," DeLay told Eyewitness News. "But all through this process, 60 to 66 percent of the Republicans voting in this process don't want Trump."

In an open or contested convention, delegates are bound to vote for a certain candidate based on their state's rules. If no candidate gets 50 percent plus one, there's a second vote. By the second or third ballot, however, delegates can change their minds and vote for someone else. It's a process of which Trump has been critical.

"What they're trying to do is subvert the movement with crooked shenanigans, all right," Trump told a crowd of supporters over the weekend.

He especially didn't like Colorado, which awarded its delegates after caucuses elected delegates to conventions who then chose their candidates. It wasn't a popular vote earning Cruz his support.

"This is counting delegates," said DeLay. "Going out and one by one getting those delegates to support you in the convention and Cruz is doing that."