At stake in Nevada were 30 delegates, which will be awarded both proportionally based on the at-large statewide vote and by who wins the state’s four congressional districts. Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued Wednesday that candidates don’t win presidential primaries simply by winning individual states.
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Overall, Trump has 81 delegates, and Cruz and Rubio have 17 apiece.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida finished second with 23.9 percent, followed by Sen.
With approximately 21 percent reporting, Trump had 45 percent of the vote.
A candidate must have 1,237 state delegates to win the Republican nomination at the National Convention this summer. Carson has been toward the bottom throughout and has 4 total delegates. They must start winning.
“We might not even need the two months, to be honest”, Trump said.
Referring to his flagship policy of building a wall between the USA and Mexico, which drew criticism from the Pope who called it “un-Christian”, he said: “We’re gonna have our borders nice and strong, and we’re gonna build the wall”, insisting that Mexico would pay for it. While proportional contests give Trump’s weaker rivals a chance to accumulate delegates, proportional contests also make it hard to catch up if one candidate runs up a significant lead.
Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, left, and Ted Cruz, shown at the December 15 Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each took less than five percent of the vote.
Going by the outcomes in four states that have voted, Mr. Trump’s support is now is geographically and demographically spread across the U.S. He came a close second in Iowa in the middle, came first in New Hampshire in the northeast, SC in the southeast and Nevada in the west. Opinion polls tend to confirm Mr Trump’s claims that he has been winning among all sections.
“Until there’s some consolidation here, you’re not going to have a clear alternative to Donald Trump”, he said.
The Nevada win is the third in a row for Trump in the state-by-state nominating contest for the November election. With just over a quarter of votes in, Rubio was leading Cruz 24.3 percent to 22.2 percent.
“One week from today will be the most important night of this campaign: Super Tuesday”, he told subdued supporters in Nevada.
Nevada’s caucusing played out in schools, community centres and places of worship across the state, a process that has been chaotic in the past.
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Trump won 50 percent of the voters who described themselves as “somewhat conservative”, according to the entrance poll.
