Newsletter: Essential Politics: Donald Trump, presumptive nominee

I’m Christina Bellantoni, and it was going to be great. But it wasn’t meant to be.

California voters readying for their chance to make history are going to need to start getting excited about the Senate race instead. Don’t roll your eyes — there are plenty of contests on June 7 to be interested in.

But for today, Essential Politics is mourning the competitive presidential primary that wasn’t.

It was over swiftly, as Donald Trump captured all of Indiana’s delegates and won the state by more than 182,000 votes.

A day that started with accusations by Trump that Sen. Ted Cruz’s father had something to do with the JFK assassination — and rounded out with Cruz calling Trump “amoral” and a “pathological liar” — ended with subdued, thoughtful words.

“He is a tough, smart guy, and he has got an amazing future,” Trump said, calling Cruz “one hell of a competitor.”

For his part, the Texas senator who was the first to enter the race called for healing.

“We want to bring unity to the Republican party. We have to bring unity,” he said.

As Lisa Mascaro writes, Cruz was right all along that Republicans were looking for an outsider. It just wasn’t him.

Cruz was in the race 407 days, winning 10 states and 565 delegates. He had a vice presidential running mate for six days. He said his average donation was $60. In the end, as he told supporters Tuesday, “There is no substitute for victory.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s team pledged to keep up the fight until someone has 1,237 delegates, and the Never Trump movement also refused to bow out.

As the GOP race winds down, we will continue to track the race on Trail Guide and via @latimespolitics.

SANDERS VICTORY

Sen. Bernie Sanders remains on track to lose the Democratic nomination race, but he nonetheless managed to keep his agenda at the center of it as he toppled Hillary Clinton in Indiana.

The Vermont senator bested his rival by about 32,000 votes, earning six more delegates than Clinton in the process. That was enough for him to soldier forward.

Sanders issued a defiant statement: “The Clinton campaign thinks this campaign is over. They’re wrong.”

Clinton’s team ignored Sanders and kept up attacks against Trump, calling him “too big of a risk” to become president.

LEGALIZING POT HEADS TO NOVEMBER BALLOT

A measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use in California appears headed for the Nov. 8 ballot.

A coalition that includes former Facebook President Sean Parker on Tuesday said it has collected 600,000 signatures, more than enough to qualify the initiative.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other supporters plan to kick off a campaign for voter approval of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act on Wednesday in San Francisco.

We’re tracking all of the initiatives on our Essential Politics news feed.

CRUZ DOWN, SANCHEZ UP?

With the Republican presidential race now a lot less interesting, that might douse the expected surge in GOP turnout forecast for the June 7 primary. And that, in the twisted world of politics, could help Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s bid for the U.S. Senate, Phil Willon reports.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

— Mark Z. Barabak examined the tortured language Republicans have been using as they endorsed in the presidential race. Basically, no one is all that excited about the candidates this cycle.

— Lawmakers and advocacy groups on Tuesday debated the merits of a gun control initiative backed by Newsom after 600,000 signatures were turned in last week to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

— Rep. Tony Cardenas has poured more than $300,000 from his re-election campaign fund into legal services with five Los Angeles law firms in the past year, but his attorney says there is no indication the congressman is the subject of a rumored federal investigation. The amount is 40% of the $780,898 Cardenas has spent on his re-election campaign in a race where the only other candidate to have raised a significant amount of money, Richard Alarcon, is facing legal troubles of his own.

— Oops! Visitors to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s page on the city’s newly redesigned city website were directed for some time to a Facebook account created to get him re-elected.

— What do you think of Trump? Readers can weigh in with our quick survey.

LOGISTICS

Miss yesterday’s newsletter? Here you go. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics?

Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com.