Donald Trump widens national lead to 15 points over Marco Rubio

Nevada GOP voters will caucus Tuesday in the latest critical primary contest in the Republican 2016 race, and it seems the businessman is the victor in the state, according to recent polls which give Trump 39% support of Nevada Republican voters.

The lopsided result underscored the enormous challenge Mr Trump’s rivals face as the candidates head into next week’s all important “Super Tuesday” contests involving 11 states.

Trump also planted the seeds to go after second-place finisher Marco Rubio, following what has become a familiar pattern: Compliment the rival, take note of cordiality between the two thus far, then conclude that attacks are inevitable.

A CBS affiliate in Las Vegas said that “some caucus sites have run out of ballots”. The other two candidates, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, were in the single digits.

“When people drop out, we’re going to get a lot of votes”, Trump said at his Nevada victory rally.

Trump is coming off a February 8 win in New Hampshire and a February 20 victory in SC.

“He can afford (to come in second) for a little while longer”, Hoffman said.

Additionally, Rubio supporters have expressed hope that Republicans who had been behind Jeb Bush would come to their side after the former Florida governor’s exit.

Trump was supported by about 6 in 10 of those who said they care most about immigration, and almost half of those who said they care most about the economy. Last we checked, Donald Trump is anti-immigrant and hateful towards his female counterparts.

“We want people who are going to do what they say and I think he has been one of those people”, explains Hartman. You just heard, we won Hispanics.

Nevada was a critical test for Rubio and Cruz, who are battling to emerge as the clear alternative to Trump. In Nevada a smaller number of voters described themselves as born-again Christians (39 percent), but Trump again won those voters, this time with a 15-point margin over Cruz. 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.

The new way the race slims down is if Trump can beat either Cruz or Rubio in their home states. While the caucuses still select delegates to go to county conventions and contend for tickets to the Republican National Convention, the 30 Nevada delegates that go to Cleveland will be awarded to candidates based on the outcome of the preference poll.