With about 90 percent of the votes counted, U.S. media gave Trump about 46 percent, with senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas trailing by more than 20 points in a tight race for second.
Advertisement
The Nevada win is the third in a row for Trump in the state-by-state nominating contest for the November election. “And we’re going to campaign hard”, Cruz said, framing the history of the race against Trump in a way that ignored Trump’s win in Nevada on Tuesday evening.
On Tuesday night, Trump already had his eye on the calendar ahead, boasting as he declared victory that he was creeping up in the polls in Texas, which votes in next week’s Super Tuesday contest – a not-so-subtle dig at Cruz.
The real estate magnate and reality TV star appeared set to secure between 40 and 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, his largest take yet in a streak of wins that include New Hampshire and SC.
Watch: Who did Trump win with in Nevada? “I’m really happy about that”.
But Cruz harked back to his win in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses to remind supporters that his is “the only campaign that has defeated Donald Trump is this campaign”.
After the first three states, Trump had 67 delegates, Cruz had 11, Rubio had 10, Ohio Gov. John Kasich had five and Ben Carson had three. “We’re going to bring in so much money and so much everything – we’re going to make America great again, folks”. Marco Rubio, he earned majority support from those who’d rather have the next president be someone with political experience. According to CNN entrance polls, of the 9% projected Hispanic turnout, 44% voted for Trump.
How Ted Cruz performs in his home state on March 1 could determine whether his presidential campaign hopes would ride or die.
The result underscores that preventing Trump from winning the nomination is likely to require both that anti-Trump Republicans coalesce around an alternative and that they adopt a much more aggressive strategy in probing Trump for signs of weakness.
So there’s an argument that it’s Rubio, not Trump, who is now being artificially helped by the crowded field.
Rubio and Cruz are looking toward the so-called Super Tuesday group of contests to boost their campaigns and reel in Trump, who has led national polls for months.
Advertisement
Cruz was able to notch a victory over tough-talking Trump in the first state to voice its opinion, Iowa, but he has posted two consecutive third-place finishes since then.
