Ecstatic Donald Trump storms to victory in Nevada

LAS VEGAS, Wednesday

Donald Trump won the Nevada Republican caucuses by a huge margin, chalking up his third straight triumph in the party’s presidential nominating process and building momentum ahead of a critical multi-state vote next week.

With about 90 per cent of the votes counted, US media gave Trump about 46 per cent, with senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas trailing by more than 20 points in a tight race for second.

“This is an amazing night,” Trump told cheering supporters in a victory speech after Tuesday’s vote.

“We weren’t expected to win too much and now we’re winning, winning, winning the country,” Mr Trump said. “And soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.”

The 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.

CNN and Fox News had Rubio in second place in Nevada with 23.7 per cent of the vote and Cruz in third with 21.5 per cent.

'BROAD BASED WIN'

An ecstatic Trump said his win was broadly based, including strong support among Hispanics.

He angered many early in the campaign by saying Mexico sends rapists across the border to the US.

“We won the evangelicals. We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated,” he said.

“I love the poorly educated. We’re the smartest people. We’re the most loyal people.”

The remaining two candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Governor John Kasich, lagged far behind in the single digits.

Cruz insisted he was the only candidate who could beat Trump and who has won a primary — he prevailed in Iowa — and said he was now setting his sight on next Tuesday’s crucial contests.

“One week from today will be the most important night of this campaign,” he said.

MAINSTREAM REPUBLICANS

Mr Trump had been all but certain to triumph in Nevada, with the big question being whether Mr Rubio — favoured by mainstream Republicans — could clinch second place.

The contest was the fourth for the Republican presidential candidates, with Trump also winning in New Hampshire and South Carolina. He came second in Iowa.

Although the caucus in Nevada is not expected to have a significant impact on the overall race — only 30 delegates or slightly more than one per cent of the total are up for grabs — it was the first contest for the Republicans in the US West.

It is also the first test of Republican voter sentiment after Jeb Bush pulled out of the race last week following a poor showing in South Carolina.

Mr Trump expressed optimism that he might effectively clinch the nomination quickly.

“It’s going to be an amazing two months,” Mr Trump said. “We might not even need the two months, to be honest.”

All eyes were on whether Mr Rubio and Mr Cruz would be able to slow Trump’s momentum and which of the two candidates would come in second.