Frontrunners widen gap on Super Tuesday, but rivals remain persistent

He has won in Minnesota, but it will be hard for him to claim any great strength with one caucus win in what was already poised to be his best state.

“Let’s not forget that last night was supposed to be Ted Cruz’s big night”.

Rubio and Cruz both mentioned in explaining why they were sticking it out Trump’s equivocation over the weekend in rejecting the endorsement of David Duke, a white supremacist and former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

He also jabbed at “lightweight” Marco Rubio for having a “tough night”.

But what’s clear, he said, is if the Republican party remains divided, Trump’s path to the nomination “becomes all the more likely”, Cruz said.

Trump’s proposal for a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the USA, once written off by pundits as a liability, was backed by big GOP majorities in six states.

With 10 furled American flags and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie standing behind him, Trump poked fun at Rubio, referring to him as “the little senator” and “a lightweight”.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas won two states on Tuesday – Oklahoma and Texas – and tried to position himself as the most viable alternative to Trump, who still doesn’t have much support from the Republican establishment. Ted Cruz captured his home state of Texas, which had the largest delegate prize of the night.

On the other hand, Georgia Republican voters who said they voted for someone other than Trump only identified as angry 44 percent of the time, and 8 percent said they were satisfied, according to NBC News.

Frontrunner Trump managed to take seven of 11 states and, with what seemed to be one eye on consolidating broader Republican party support, dialed down his usual bombast rhetoric during his acceptance speech. On March 15, his home state of Florida is holding its primary.

Sanders won contests in his home of Vermont, Colorado, Minnesota and Oklahoma but Clinton swept through the South, adding to her delegate lead. Rubio has 106 delegates, John Kasich has 25 and Ben Carson has eight.

Residents of the Greenspring retirement community in Springfield, Virginia, line up to vote in the state’s presidential primary on Tuesday.

Rubio said the delegate counts will level out in upcoming winner-take-all primaries.

Rubio did come close to winning another state-Virginia, where he came within three points of beating out Trump.