Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a caucus night rally, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas.
Advertisement
Projections on TV networks gave Mr Trump 46 per cent of the vote, with senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas trailing some 20 points behind. The other two candidates, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, were in the single digits.
Cruz won the first nominating contest in the state of Iowa, and told his supporters after the Nevada caucus he is the only candidate who has and can beat Trump.
A billionaire businessman and political outsider, Trump’s brash, anti-government talk appealed to Nevada residents, political strategists said before the Tuesday evening caucus.
He went on to predict that Rubio would fail to win any states on Super Tuesday, adding that Rubio’s narrow second-place finish in SC came with heavy support from the state’s governor and most of the legislature.
Cruz had a hard week ahead of the caucus, losing the evangelical vote to Trump in SC and facing accusations that his campaign plays dirty tricks on his opponents.
No Republican has ever lost the nomination after winning both New Hampshire and SC. He was the leader in the most recent surveys in 8 of the 12 Super Tuesday states, although there have been no major GOP polls taken this year in Alabama and Tennessee, where Trump leads, or in Colorado, where he doesn’t. Higher-than-normal turnout was reported, although historically, few of the state’s citizens participate in the Republican caucus. “We are one step closer to turning the pages on the failures on the Obama-Clinton disaster”, Cruz said. His rivals are running out of time to stop him. Today Cruz felt compelled to campaign in Houston.
Before polls closed in Nevada, The Donald campaigned throughout the day in the Silver State, delivering his trademark putdowns of opponents and colorful rhetoric.
Trump said the projected win shows he has broad broad support.
Unlike last Saturday’s contest when Trump walked away with all 50 pledged delegates, Trump will win a proportion of the delegates from Tuesday’s caucus based off the final statewide tally.
And candidates here faced the most diverse electorate thus far in the race, more representative of the United States population as a whole.
Advertisement
Republicans then vote by secret ballot, in 130 caucus sites across Nevada. Speaking to supporters on Wednesday night, the Texas senator positioned himself as the only candidate left in the race that could stand in Trump’s path to the Republican nomination.
