Donald Trump speaks during a primary night news conference at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., on March 8, 2016. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)
Donald Trump handily won primary voting contests tonight in Mississippi and Michigan, solidifying his lead in the Republican field.
The Associated Press called the Mississippi contest fairly early in the evening. With 46 percent of precincts reporting at 10 p.m., the New York billionaire bagged just shy of 50 percent of the vote there, nearly 15 percentage points ahead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who came in second.
Trump was winning in Michigan by more than 11 percentage points above Ohio Gov. John Kasich, his closest competitor, as of 10 p.m. The results are a disappointment for Kasich, who campaigned heavily in the Wolverine State since its electorate resembles that of his home state.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, easily routed Bernie Sanders in Mississippi, which has a largely black Democratic electorate that has long favored the former secretary of State. With 47 percent of precincts reporting at 10 p.m., she had more than 83 of the vote, compared to Sanders’ 15.6 percent.
The Vermont senator did, however, unexpectedly beat Clinton in Michigan. The race was called by the AP shortly after 11:30 p.m. Recent Michigan polls had Clinton well ahead of Sanders, but the latter’s last-minute push on issues such as Wall Street and trade clearly stuck with voters.
“What tonight means is that the Bernie Sanders campaign, the political revolution we’re talking about, is strong in every part of the country and frankly we believe ours strongest areas are yet to come,” Sanders said in a short statement Tuesday night before the race was called.
Prime time coverage on network TV focused heavily on Trump. Several of the major networks carried live, uninterrupted feeds of his press conference following his win. Noted Hadas Gold, Politico’s media reporter:
Trump’s wins Tuesday position him well for the upcoming batch of primary states, many of them critical winner-take-all contests.
The billionaire held his victory speech at his campaign headquarters in Jupiter, Fla., a clear indication on where he’s focusing on next.
“We’re way up with millions of people. So what I say to the Republicans is embrace it,” Trump said. “We will win the election easily.”
The night was a major letdown for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who placed fourth in both the Michigan and Mississippi contests. He’ll have little time to build momentum before Floridians hit the polls next week, seen as the make-or-break moment for the freshman senator’s campaign. A recent poll from Monmouth University had him trailing Trump by eight percentage points in his home state.
Idaho and Hawaii also hit the ballot box Tuesday, but those results were not expected to roll in until later in the evening given the time difference.
