Donald Trump Wins Nevada Caucuses

CNNDonald Trump is projected to have won the chaotic Nevada Republican caucuses, according to the Associated Press, with Rubio poised for second place. Meanwhile, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz were locked in a battle for second place.

Entrance polls in Nevada captured the sentiment propelling Trump’s insurgent campaign: Six in 10 caucus goers said they were angry with the way the government is working, and Trump got about half of them.

Nevada marks the third straight win for Trump.

Mr Trump is on a roll after winning primaries in New Hampshire and SC.

“Right now what you have is a situation where the majority of the Republican electorate, the majority of Republican voters in this country do not want Donald Trump to be the nominee”, Rubio said. And Trump is leading polls in nearly all of the Super Tuesday states. He predicted that it would “an incredible two months…we may not even need the two months”.

On Tuesday night, Trump already had his eye on the calendar ahead, boasting as he declared victory that he was creeping up in the polls in Texas, which votes in next week’s Super Tuesday contest – a not-so-subtle dig at Cruz.

Nevada’s caucusing played out in schools, community centers and places of worship across the state – a process that’s been chaotic in the past. “One week from today will be the most important night of this campaign: Super Tuesday”, he told subdued supporters in Nevada. Now that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is out of the nomination race, Rubio is the establishment (and media) favorite. He also easily won New Hampshire after losing a squeaker to Cruz in Iowa. That would keep him politically alive as the race moves into the big Midwestern primaries, including his home state.

Las Vegas Strip: Say what you will about Vegas (I am pro), but man does it make an awesome backdrop for live television.

And so while there is the ceiling theory, based on the notion no self-respecting political party would ever nominate someone as unrespectable as Trump, there is also the competing theory that, for any candidate, winning begets winning, which, I’m guessing, would go nicely on a campaign cap.

On Tuesday 11 states, including MA, will have Republican primaries or caucuses. And Mr. Rubio has criticized Mr. Cruz in increasingly personal terms, calling him a dishonest politician who has routinely lied to voters.

In his speech after the results were called, Cruz called on his fellow Republicans to unify around him as the candidate to defeat Trump, saying that he was the only one who can defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall.

Donald Trump won the Nevada GOP caucuses on February 23.

But it is unclear how he will fare in the Silver State: he has alienated many Hispanic voters with his persistent anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Among those who decided who to support in the last week, about 4 in 10 supported Rubio, while about a quarter supported Trump and Cruz.