“It’s going to be an wonderful two months”, he told his supporters.
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After four contests in individual states, the Republican presidential race now goes national with an undisputed front-runner: Donald Trump. So far, after four primary and caucus contests, Trump has 82 delegates, Cruz has 17 and Rubio has 16.
“They keep forgetting that when people drop out, we’re going to get a lot of votes”, Mr. Trump told wildly cheering supporters at a victory rally in Las Vegas not far from the gold-infused glass tower of the Trump International Hotel that glitters above the casino strip. Ted Cruz came in third place in the state with around 21 percent, Ben Carson came in fourth with around 4.8, and John Kasich came in last with about 3.6 percent.
There’s little sign that will happen soon.
Mr Trump won Nevada’s presidential caucuses with more than 45% of the vote, scoring his third consecutive primary victory in dominant fashion.
However, since then, Trump has tallied wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and now Nevada, with a suite of southern states ahead on March 1, so-called Super Tuesday.
Donald Trump’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination could face its stiffest challenge on the debate stage Thursday night as top rivals Florida Sen. Ted Cruz had finished first. “I want money, money”, Trump said, explaining how hard it is for him to reject campaign donations from his wealthy friends.
Trump, who has leveled his harshest attacks against Cruz, once again knocked the Texan on Wednesday, saying Cruz is “changing his stance” on immigration to better compete with Trump, who has struck the harshest tone and some of the most hardline positions on illegal immigration. In a video announcement, Abbott said Texas conservatives “need to deliver”.
Six in 10 Nevada Republicans said that they were looking for the next president to be someone from “outside politics”. “And these one-off comments about he’s not good enough on Israel or he’s not, doesn’t have the right temperament – there’s no indication in political history that that’s going to slow a guy like Trump with all of his skills and all of his support down”. If Rubio is rising, he will be in Trump’s line of fire, and it’s not at all clear he can handle that. For instance, two new polls today showed Marco Rubio trailing Trump in the senator’s own home state of Florida. Recently, he has been accused by his rivals of using negative tactics, including one that led to the resignation of his spokesman, Rick Tyler.
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While Rubio has dismissed concerns about his primary strategy – and continues to insist that the fractured GOP field has contributed to Trump’s dominance – failure to win a single delegate in his home state’s winner-take-all contest would seriously undercut his viability as a candidate.
