(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio). Democratic presidential candidate, Sen.
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By Saturday afternoon, Sanders’ campaign had moved to MI and Ohio.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.
Ted Cruz has beaten NY businessman Donald Trump in the state’s Republican presidential caucuses.
Heading into Saturday’s round of voting, Clinton had 1,066 delegates to Sanders’ 432, including super-delegates – members of Congress, governors and party officials who can support the candidate of their choice. Cruz overperformed even in the states that Trump won.
Despite defeats to Ted Cruz in Kansas and Maine, Republican Trump won in Louisiana and Kentucky.
A spokesman for Rubio, who spent the past week launching harsh personal attacks on Trump, said the senator would push on with an eye on the March 15 contest in Florida.
Hillary Clinton lost in Kansas and in Nebraska to a resurgent Sanders campaign, although her expected win in Louisiana was likely to leave her ahead in net delegates by the end of the night.
It was Cruz’s fifth win of the Republican primary season, easily fending off Trump and Florida Sen. For the Democrats, 11 for Clinton and seven for Sanders.
Trump defeated Cruz in the Louisiana primary by 41 percent to 38 percent and in the Kentucky caucuses by 36 percent to 32 percent, according to the Associated Press.
Puerto Rico Republicans will add their voices to the conversation on Sunday, as will Maine Democrats. Mitt Romney, the GOP’s 2012 nominee, and other party elders launched an unprecedented effort this week to thwart Trump’s campaign. John McCain – are fearful a Trump victory would lead to a disastrous November election, with losses up and down the GOP ticket.
“The scream you hear, the howl that comes from Washington, D.C., is utter terror at what “We the People” are doing together”, Cruz told supporters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after his early win in Kansas.
“The way I guarantee victory is get enough delegates, so I don’t have to worry”, he said. “That will be easy”. Kasich has said he’ll drop out of the presidential contest if he doesn’t win OH, and is gearing up for a convention fight if he prevails.
Before Saturday’s voting, Sanders was already 198 delegates behind Clinton, with an estimated 410 pledged delegates to her 608.
Being able to say he’s won two states after being waxed on Super Tuesday is a morale-booster for Sanders but doesn’t really change the dynamics of the race; MI next Tuesday is the next big test of whether he can break out of his white-liberal voter ghetto.
A Trump backer had a stern warning for those trying to block the Trump juggernaut: “If the big, fat GOP don’t like him, they don’t like me”, said 65-year-old Connie Belton, a retired homemaker from Wichita.
That would mean a contested or “brokered” convention, a scenario that could turn chaotic, especially if establishment figures seek to actively prevent delegates from coalescing around Trump.
“If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to gripe when something happens that you don’t like”, she said.
The conservative senator performed beyond expectations in Kansas, where he earned 48.2 percent support, doubling up on Trump who received 23.3 percent. Trump picked up at least 49, Rubio at least 13 and Kasich nine.
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The Republican race has been winnowed to four men: political outsiders Trump and Cruz, and more mainstream candidates Rubio and Kasich.
