Businessman Donald Trump won the Mississippi primary, expanding his lead in the 2016 GOP nomination race and renewing questions about whether the establishment’s late-innings push to stop the New York billionaire from winning the nomination could be too little too late.
NBC News called the race about a half hour after polls closed at 8 p.m. Republicans also voted Tuesday in Michigan, Idaho and Hawaii.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas appeared poised to finished second in Mississippi.
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida lagged far behind, with the early results suggesting the two men could fall short of the 15 percent threshold needed to win delegates in the state.
Roughly three-quarters of voters in Mississippi identified as white evangelical Christian, according to exit polls.
The win assured that Mr. Trump will gain the biggest chunk of the 40 delegates up for grabs in Mississippi.
Early results out of Michigan, meanwhile, showed that Mr. Trump and Mr. Kasich running neck-and-neck for first, followed by Mr. Cruz and Mr. Rubio.
The four contests Tuesday coincided with a NBC News/Wall Street Journal national poll that found Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz locked are locked a tight battle for the top spot on the GOP leader board.
The survey also found that Mr. Kasich on the rise and Mr. Rubio slipping as the field shifts their attention toward the March 15 contests, with the marquee races in Ohio and Florida.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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