The presidential race could feature a contest between conservative firebrand Ted Cruz and establishment Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to Charlie Cook, the respected political observer and publisher of the Cook Political Report.

Iowa will winnow down the conservative upstart Republican candidates, and the New Hampshire primary will thin out the traditional side of the Republican Party, Cook told attendees at the American Institute of CPAs’ Personal Financial Planning Section conference Wednesday in Las Vegas.

“The number three and four [finishers] are going to be gone, and an establishment Republican will be a real contender” after New Hampshire, he said.

The races on both sides “really don’t get going until March,” when a number of important states have primaries, Cook added.

But in the meantime, the field will narrow.

“On the conservative side, you keep reading about Trump running away” with the race, he said. But Trump’s 35 percent support from Republican voters “tells you that 65 percent are not for him.”

“Trump’s support is pretty inelastic and not likely to grow beyond where he is,” Cook said. “He is a vehicle for [angry voters], and they’re not done venting their spleens.”

Cook said that in voter focus groups, Trump supporters were enthusiastic about his positions, but that “about 30 minutes into it, you start to hear, ‘I like him, but … ,’ with comments about his temperament, judgment and personality.”

“My hunch is … when they’re done venting, and they go into selecting-a-president mode … they’re going to look for a more plausible vehicle for that anger,” Cook said.

“My guess is the angry vote will gravitate to Cruz.”

Ted Cruz is “one of the smartest politicians I’ve ever seen, and has a strategy that makes more sense than the others,” Cook said.

The current controversy over Cruz being born in Canada is a “fake fight” without much substance, he added.

The Republican convention could be contested, with Trump and Cruz controlling a quarter to a third of delegates going in, Cook predicts.

On the Democratic side, Clinton may lose Iowa, and will probably lose New Hampshire, Cook said, “but there’s virtually no chance whatsoever that [Bernie] Sanders is going to win [the nomination] no matter how much Republicans hope he wins.”

Even assuming Sanders wins Iowa, New Hampshire and all the New England states, that would only give him 36 percent of the delegates needed to win the nomination. The Democratic winner will need strong support from African-American and Latino voters, Cook added, something Sanders has yet to land.

“Clinton may be mangled and bruised” by the primary process, “but there’s only one chance she can lose” and that is if the Justice Department brings charges over her e-mail problem, Cook said.

“There’s an 85 percent chance it doesn’t go further.”

The e-mail controversy has hurt Clinton among moderates and independents, Cook said. Plus, she is unlikely to pick up as many minority voters as Obama did, and she generates little enthusiasm among women voters under age 40.

But among Democrats overall, “Clinton’s numbers are really, really good,” he said.