Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton won their parties’ primaries in Arizona on Tuesday and maintained steep advantages in the presidential nominations race, despite victories by rival
Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton won their parties’ primaries in Arizona on Tuesday and maintained steep advantages in the presidential nominations race, despite victories by rivals in other states.
Mr Trump extended his lead over nearest rival Ted Cruz in the all-important delegate race, although the arch-conservative Senator from Texas made a night of it by resoundingly winning the Utah caucuses.
Ms Clinton’s challenger Bernie Sanders, whose grassroots campaign has refused to yield to the former secretary of state, snatched much-needed victories in Utah and Idaho, blunting Ms Clinton’s momentum just as she began to project an image as the inevitable Democratic nominee.
The voting gave the candidates another opportunity to pile up delegates on the way to the party nominating conventions, but it did not dramatically alter the basic outlines of the race.
“Much bigger win than anticipated in Arizona. Thank you, I will never forget!” Mr Trump posted on Twitter.
Mr Trump coralled all 58 delegates at stake in winner-take-all Arizona, where he left Mr Cruz and Ohio governor John Kasich in hi-s wake, and amid controv-ersy over very long lines at polling stations. But Mr Cr-uz bounced back in neighboring Utah, as he appeared on track to winning the state by more than 50 per cent, which means he secu-res all of its 40 delegates.
Mr Cruz also scored the critical endorsement of ex-Florida governor Jeb Bush on Wednesday.
“I wanted you all to be the first to know that today I am endorsing Ted Cruz for President,” Mr Bush said in a statement. “Ted is a consistent, principled conservative who has demonstrated the ability to appeal to voters and win primary contests, including yesterday’s Utah caucus,” Mr Bush said, referring to one of three votes held Tuesday.
On the Democratic side, Ms Clinton’s Arizona victory was tempered by Mr Sanders’s impressive performance in Idaho, where he won the caucuses by a staggering 78 per cent to 21 per cent, and in Utah, results which allowed him to cut into Ms Clinton’s delegate lead, if only slightly.
They were Sanders’s first state victories since March 8 in Michigan. Mr Sanders praised the “tremendous” voter turn-out, saying that “these decisive victories in Idaho and Utah give me confidence that we will continue to win major victories in the coming contests.”
