Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is one step closer to the Republican presidential nomination after clinching the Nevada caucuses just after midnight ET.
Trump had been favored to win in Nevada on Tuesday, where his name is prominently displayed on his Las Vegas hotel building and he’s led in support among likely caucusgoers for weeks. Some polls showed Trump leading the field in the Silver State by double digits, but a CNN/ORC poll showed that as recently as last week a quarter of likely caucusgoers were still undecided about their pick.
Reports early in the caucus process depicted it as a chaotic mess, including details of ballots strewn about and lax security measures when checking voters’ forms of identification.
The bombastic real estate mogul spent most of the day Tuesday giving his final pitch to Nevada voters. He vowed to keep Guantanamo Bay open to “load it up with some bad dudes,” attacked other Republican candidates, including calling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) a “little baby,” and assured his audience members that he reads the Bible more than anyone.
Trump’s momentum coming off his win in Saturday’s South Carolina primary carried him through the Nevada caucuses, and he’s expected to take several of the states voting on Super Tuesday as well. But he’ll also run up against the candidate who bested him in the Iowa caucuses, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), that day on the senator’s home turf.
Preliminary projections weren’t able to call second and third place, which showed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in a tight race.
