Donald Trump Wins Nevada Caucus

Florida senator Mr Rubio captured second place with fewer than 2,000 more votes than Texas senator Mr Cruz as final vote totals were reported.

Addressing his supporters, Mr Trump said he would be celebrating tonight.

Preliminary results of the entrance poll found that about 3 in 10 early caucus goers said the quality that mattered most to them in choosing a candidate was that he shares their values, slightly more than the quarter who said they want a candidate who can win in November.

“I believe we are poised to have a very good night on ‘Super Tuesday, ‘” Cruz said at a Houston rally about his prospects on March 1, when a dozen states will head to the polls to vote for their preferred GOP candidate.

Broadcast networks called the state for Trump nearly immediately after voting ended, with the state Republican Party confirming the victory soon after.

It appears to be a re-run of SC with Trump winning decisively and Rubio and Cruz fighting it out for second place with Cruz having a one point edge as of this writing (23% to 22%).

“The other candidates amount to 55%”, Trump said. He won pluralities of conservative voters, moderate voters, and evangelicals. We won with young. With won with old. We won with highly educated. We’re the smartest people. Lagging far behind in the Nevada vote were Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Clinton says she would, on one condition. Marco Rubio, he earned majority support from those who’d rather have the next president be someone with political experience.

Nevada is 28 percent Latino, nine percent Asian-American and leads the nation with the highest rate of people living in the country illegally, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Trump expressed optimism that he might effectively clinch the nomination quickly.

“We love Nevada”, Trump told supporters at the Treasure Island casino on the Las Vegas Strip as he declared victory. “We might not even need the two months, to be honest”.

The new way the race slims down is if Trump can beat either Cruz or Rubio in their home states.

With 100% of the Nevada caucus votes counted as of early Wednesday morning, it was clear that Cruz had finished a disappointing third behind businessman Donald Trump Sen.

In order to win the Republican nomination, a candidate must gain at least 1,237 delegates.

“But for lying, he’s the best I’ve ever seen”, he added.

Mr Rubio, already campaigning in MI as Nevada results rolled in, was projecting confidence that he can consolidate the non-Trump voters, saying “we have incredible room to grow”. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of NY announcing they are backing him for the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump was also a candidate who seemed perfectly suited to the blunt-talking, libertarian-leaning, government-loathing voters who live in Nevada, a state that really does sometimes feel like the Wild West.

On Tuesday 11 states, including MA, will have Republican primaries or caucuses.