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Cruz wins in Maine, Kansas, but Trump scores in the South
Hillary Clinton carries Democratic primary in Louisiana
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
BATON ROUGE (CFP) — U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas bolstered his argument that he should be considered the alternative to Donald Trump in the GOP presidential race by scoring clear victories in Kansas and Maine.
However, Trump held on in the two Southern contests held on March 5, narrowly beating Cruz in a primary in Louisiana and a caucus in Kentucky.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton, as expected, won going away in Louisiana, a state with a large African-American population. Democrats did not vote in Kentucky.
The biggest loser of the night was U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who finished third in Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana and scraped in dead last in Maine, where he was shut out of the delegate count.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
Speaking to supporters in Boise, Idaho, Cruz hailed the results as “a very good day.”
“We’re seeing Republicans coming together. We’re seeing conservatives coming together,” he said. Cruz told reporters that the GOP field needs to continue to narrow in order to defeat Trump.
But Rubio, speaking at a rally in Jacksonville, Florida before the results began rolling in, showed no signs he was going anywhere, noting that he had successfully battled long odds to win a Senate seat in 2010.
“If you watch the press, they say he’s an underdog. He’s taking on an incredible task,” Rubio said, referring to himself. “Let me tell you something–America is country of underdogs.”
In Louisiana, Trump took 42 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Cruz. In Kentucky, Trump won 36 percent to Cruz’s 31 percent.
Among Democrats, Clinton won 71 percent to 24 percent for Bernie Sanders.
The next Southern stops in the presidential race are:
◾Tuesday, March 8: Mississippi (primary)
◾Tuesday, March 15: Florida (primary); North Carolina (primary)
◾Tuesday, May 19: West Virginia (primary)
Southerners Cruz, Rubio jockey for position after Super Tuesday
Both senators vie to be final alternative to Donald Trump
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
(CFP) — The two Southerners left in the Republican presidential race may have failed to stop Donald Trump’s bandwagon in the Super Tuesday primaries, but both U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are insisting that the results make them the most viable alternative to the New York billionaire.
Eleven states held contests to pick Republican delegates on March 1. Trump won seven. Cruz won Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska and came in second in four other states. Rubio won Minnesota and came in second in two.
Despite those mixed results, both Cruz and Rubio made it clear that they are staying in the race. And while Rubio didn’t talk about Cruz on election night, Cruz made a direct appeal for Rubio and the other candidates to drop out to give him a clear shot at Trump.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
“So long as the field is divided, the nomination of Donald Trump becomes more likely, and that would be a disaster,” Cruz told supporters in Stafford, Texas, near Houston.
Addressing the other candidates, he said, “I ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together, uniting.”
“That is the only way to beat Donald Trump. Head-to-head, our campaign beats Donald Trump resoundingly.”
But down in Miami, a defiant Rubio denounced Trump as a “con artist” and made it clear he doesn’t plan to leave the race.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
“No matter how long it takes, no matter how many states it takes, no matter how many weeks and months it takes, I will campaign as long as it takes, and wherever it takes, to ensure that I am the next president of the United States,” Rubio said.
Rubio insisted that his stepped-up campaign of attacks against Trump has begun eroding Trump’s poll numbers, and he said he was looking forward to the March 15 primary in his home state of Florida.
“Two weeks from tonight, right here in Florida, we are going to send a message loud and clear,” he said.
Trump, Clinton roll across the South on Super Tuesday
Trump carries five of seven Southern GOP primaries; Clinton takes six on Democratic side
SUPER TUESDAY SOUTHERN RESULTS
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
(CFP) — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rolled across the South on Super Tuesday, carrying 11 of the 14 primaries and the lion’s share of the delegates up for grabs.
The only outliers were Oklahoma, which both Trump and Clinton lost, and the Republican primary in Texas, which went for homestate U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
Trump and Clinton won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia in the March 1 vote. Clinton also won the Democratic primary in Texas
Super Tuesday was rough sledding for U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who came in second place in Virginia and Georgia but could only manage a third-place finish in Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas.
In addition to winning Texas and Oklahoma, Cruz finished second to Trump in Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee. He was third in Georgia and Virginia.
While Trump won most of the Super Tuesday primaries on the Republican side, he cleared 40 percent only one Southern state, Alabama, which he swept by 18 points.
Trump also notched double-digit wins in Georgia and Tennessee. His victories in Arkansas and Virginia were narrow, 2 and 3 percent, respectively.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Buoyed by her strong support among African-Americans, Clinton rolled up huge numbers across the South. With the exception of Oklahoma, which she lost by 10 points to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clinton’s support ranged from 64 percent in Virginia to 78 percent in Alabama.
Her margin of victory ranged from 29 points in Virginia to a staggering 59 points in Alabama.
The next Southern stops in the presidential race are:
- Saturday, March 5: Kentucky (GOP caucus), Louisiana (primary)
- Tuesday, March 8: Mississippi (primary)
- Tuesday, March 15: Florida (primary); North Carolina (primary)
- Tuesday, May 19: West Virginia (primary)
Southern Super Tuesday Results
ALABAMA
Trump—43%
Cruz—21%
Rubio-19%
Carson–10%
Kasich–4%
Clinton–78%
Sanders–19%
ARKANSAS
Trump—33%
Cruz—31%
Rubio-25%
Carson–6%
Kasich–4%
Clinton–66%
Sanders–30%
GEORGIA
Trump—39%
Rubio–25%
Cruz–24%
Carson–6%
Kasich–6%
Clinton–71%
Sanders–28%
OKLAHOMA
Cruz—34%
Trump—28%
Rubio–26%
Carson–6%
Kasich–4%
Sanders–52%
Clinton–42%
TENNESSEE
Trump—39%
Cruz–25%
Rubio–21%
Carson–8%
Kasich–5%
Clinton–66%
Sanders–32%
TEXAS
Cruz–44%
Trump–27%
Rubio–18%
Carson–4%
Kasich–4%
Clinton–65%
Sanders–33%
VIRGINIA
Trump—35%
Rubio–32%
Cruz–17%
Kasich–9%
Carson–6%
Clinton–64%
Sanders–35%
Rubio, Cruz tie for second in South Carolina primary; Bush drops out
Former Florida governor exits race in which he was the early front-runner
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CFP) — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida rode a wave of last-minute support to surge into a tie for second place with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the pivotal South Carolina primary.
Meanwhile, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush–who had been the front-runner early in the 2016 race–dropped out after finishing a distant fourth in the February 20 vote.
That leaves Rubio and Cruz as the only Southerners left in the race for the White House, which at one point had featured nine candidates from the region.
The two senators each took 22 percent in the Palmetto State, running 10 points behind the winner, Donald Trump. Rubio’s margin over Cruz was less than 1,100 votes. out of nearly 738,000 cast.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio
But after finishing fifth in New Hampshire, catching Cruz was a significant coup for Rubio in his quest to become the mainstream alternative to Trump, particularly now that Bush is out of the race.
“After tonight, this has become a three-person race, and we will win the nomination,” Rubio told supporters at a rally in Columbia, where he was flanked by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Her endorsement of Rubio in the closing days of the campaign is being credited with helping his strong finish.
But across town, Cruz, who won Iowa and came in third in New Hampshire, insisted that it was his campaign that had defied expectations.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
“The screaming you hear now from across the Potomac is the Washington cartel in full terror that the conservative grassroots are rising up,” Cruz said.
However, while both senators were claiming a moral victory, Trump not only won statewide but in all six congressional districts, which means that under the rules of the South Carolina GOP, he will get all 50 of the delegates up for grabs.
An emotional Bush announced his departure to supporters in Columbia after winning less than 8 percent of the vote. He finished sixth in Iowa and fourth in New Hampshire.
“I’m proud of the campaign that we’ve run to unify our country and to advocate conservative solutions that would give more Americans the opportunity to rise up and reach their God-given potential,” he said. “But the people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision.”
The son and brother of presidents, Bush started the race as the early front-runner, fortified by a super-PAC that had raised more than $100 million. But Trump’s entry into the race took the wind out of Bush’s political sails, and he never recovered.
Bush also had to deal with a challenge from Rubio, who had been a close political ally when they served together in Tallahassee.
After Bush’s withdrawal, Rubio offered an olive branch, expressing his “incredible affection and admiration” for a man he called “the greatest governor in the history of Florida.”
“Jeb Bush has many things to be proud of,” Rubio said.
Cruz, too, spoke warmly about Bush, saying he had brought “honor and dignity” to the race and that he was “a man who didn’t go to the gutter and engage in insults and attacks”–a not-too-veiled swipe at the front-running Trump.
Marco Rubio snags endorsement of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Haley jumps on Rubio’s bandwagon days before the pivotal South Carolina primary
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
CHAPIN, South Carolina (CFP) — South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has endorsed U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, three days before the state’s pivotal primary.
The coveted endorsement is a coup for Rubio in his quest to become the establishment alternative to front-runner Donald Trump — and a blow to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who had also courted Haley.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Speaking to a crowd of Rubio supporters in Chapin, in Haley’s home county, on February 17, the governor said that while there were “good people” in the GOP race, her job “was to find the person I thought could do it the best.”
“I wanted somebody with fight. I wanted somebody with passion. I wanted somebody that had conviction to do the right thing. But I wanted somebody humble enough that remembers that you work for all the people,” she said.
Haley, 44, is in her second term as the Palmetto State’s chief executive. She has been mentioned as a possible Republican vice presidential pick–speculation that is now likely to intensify should Rubio win the nomination.
Haley’s received national attention last year after a racist opened fire inside a church in Charleston, leaving nine people dead. In the wake of those murders, she persuaded the Republican-controlled state legislature to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the top of the statehouse in Columbia.
Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants and, if selected as the VP pick, would be the first Indian-American on a national ticket.
The governor has had an increasingly contentious relationship with Trump since she took a thinly veiled shot at the GOP front-runner in January while giving the response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address.
Just hours after the Rubio endorsement, the crowd at a Trump rally in Sumter booed Haley.
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