Coming off last week’s five-state sweep of Sanders, the former secretary of state entered Tuesday leading by more than 300 pledged delegates.
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While Trump has the clear delegate lead in the race, many have speculated that he may not win the number of delegates needed to capture the nomination outright, which would lead to a brokered convention.
With an impressive win in Arizona, Trump grabbed all the 58 delegates at stake in the state, thus, increasing his total to 739 delegates and further increasing the gap on delegate count with Cruz who has a delegate count of 425.
The US presidential primaries campaign moves to Utah and Arizona today, with both Democratic and Republican voters caucusing or casting ballots. As Reuters pointed out, it’s still within the realm of possibility that Cruz “could conceivably win enough Republican delegates to take the nomination”, whereas Ohio Gov. John Kasich, with just 143 delegates and only one primary win, will honestly just never be president.
Hillary Clinton continued to prove her appeal with minority voters by dominating in Arizona.
Former presidential candidate Lindsay Graham, who headlined a fundraiser for Cruz last week said that while the Texas senator was not his preferred candidate, he’s “the best alternative to Donald Trump”.
Despite Sanders’ massive wins in Idaho and Utah, because the states are so much less populous, Sanders likely only gained about 5 delegates more than Clinton, according to the Associated Press.
Idaho also holds its Democratic caucuses.
Clinton and Trump’s Republican rivals questioned his temperament and readiness to serve as commander in chief, and condemned his calls to diminish US involvement with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Bush’s endorsement comes late – possibly too late – in the race, as Trump’s campaign continues to dominate primary contests across the country. And Cruz took 69% of the vote in Utah (while Kasich finished second and Trump third), winning all 40 of the state’s delegates.
Trump needs to win 54 percent of the remaining delegates to reach 1,237.
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On the Democratic side, Clinton’s delegate advantage is even greater. She now has 1,203 to Sanders’ 860.
