Donald Trump recorded another victory out of Tuesday’s voting that allows him to maintain his lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, while Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) also came away with a significant win to solidify his second-place position.
Trump was declared the winner in the Arizona GOP primary, capturing 47 percent of the vote with more than 94 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday morning. Trump captured all 58 delegates in the state.
Cruz was coming in a distant second with 25 percent of the vote, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in last with 10 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), who suspended his campaign following the results out of Florida last Tuesday, received 14 percent of the vote in Arizona, which is an early-voting state. Residents were able to cast ballots up to 26 days in advance of the primary there.
Trump was expected to win Arizona; polls leading up to the primary contest showed the business mogul leading his competitors by double digits among Republican voters in the state.
Meanwhile, Cruz was projected the clear winner of the Utah Republican caucus, winning 69 percent of the vote and all of the states 40 delegates with 85 percent of precincts reporting. Kasich came in second with 17 percent and Trump in third with 14 percent. A review of polling leading up to Tuesday’s caucus indicates that Rubio’s decision to exit the race last week likely helped Cruz win by such a large margin.
Rubio suspended his campaign after Trump bested him in his home state of Florida, leaving only Kasich--who has won a single state, his home state of Ohio--and Cruz to compete with the business mogul for the nomination. The Republican field has been whittled down significantly since the start of primary voting in February.
While Trump has the clear delegate lead in the race, many have speculated that he may not win the number of delegates needed to capture the nomination outright, which would lead to a brokered convention. Trump, who some in the Republican Party have vocally opposed, could be denied the nomination in this scenario.