Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday won the Nevada Democratic caucuses, defeating Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders 52.7 percent to 47.3 percent in the race for the party's 2016 presidential nomination.
Analysts said Clinton’s win showed that her national network of support remained formidable, and that Sanders must do more to appeal to Democrats beyond the young people who have formed the core of his campaign.
And in South Carolina’s closely fought Republican primary, Donald Trump has edged out his rivals with projections showing him capturing 32.5 percent of the vote. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz locked in a virtual tie for second, with each taking about 22 percent. Rubio finished with a slight edge.
After Trump's big victory in New Hampshire last week, his win Saturday was likely to solidify the billionaire real estate mogul as the Republican front-runner.
Trump addressed a jubilant crowd in Spartanburg, South Carolina, along with his wife, Melania, and his daughter, Ivanka, who also spoke briefly. Trump congratulated the other candidates, saying it is tough to run for president but “beautiful when you win.”
Trump repeated elements of his stump speech, saying that when he becomes president, the United States will start winning again. He vowed to make Mexico pay for a massive wall along the U.S. southern border and to challenge China on its trade surplus.
Trump said he was headed for Nevada, which will hold its Republican caucuses Tuesday. He said his campaign “is an incredible movement with incredible people.” Members of the crowd chanted, “USA! USA!”
He looked forward to contests in multiple states on March 1st, called Super Tuesday, saying "let’s put this thing [Republican primary contest] away.”
About one-third of South Carolina voters are military veterans, and exit polls showed that Trump won more veterans' votes than any of his Republican opponents.
Analyst Todd Shaw with the University of South Carolina told VOA that history shows the South Carolina primary is almost always a "clarifier" for the Republican nomination.
He said often one candidate will win the Iowa caucus, and a different one will win in New Hampshire, but the person who wins in South Carolina usually goes on to win the nomination. 2008 was an exception, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich winning the South Carolina primary, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney winning the nomination.
Shaw said, as final results were still being tallied from Saturday's vote, if Trump ends up winning every single congressional district in the state, he would capture a large share of the delegates and that Trump appears to be "well on his way" to winning the nomination, unless the field narrows to a two person race.
An emotional Jeb Bush delivered a gracious speech as the vote count sealed his fate at fourth place in the Republican field. The former Florida governor said he had decided to suspend his campaign, withdrawing from a race that many had expected him to win.
Instead, Rubio and Cruz are the two candidates vying for second place behind Trump.
Speaking to his supporters of a new generation of "21st-century Republicans," Rubio vowed that he would go on to win the Republican nomination and become the next president.
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He closed in quickly in South Carolina after finishing a disappointing fifth in the New Hampshire primary earlier in the month. The 44-year-old son of a Cuban immigrant, with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at his side, spoke to an energized crowd that chanted, "Marco! Marco!"
Cruz also spoke to his supporters, surrounded by his wife and two young girls. He praised Bush, saying the former Florida governor “didn’t go to the gutter” and hurl insults at others — a veiled reference to Trump.
Cruz paid tribute to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying he had attended his funeral earlier Saturday. “This election will be a referendum on the Supreme Court," he said. "I can’t wait to stand on the debate stage with Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, or whatever socialist they put forth.”
Cruz said conservatives were continuing to unite behind his campaign, and that he was the only strong conservative in a position to win the race. He noted that he was the only candidate so far to have beaten Trump, in the Iowa caucuses, and he said he was the Republican candidate who could provide the best contrast with the Democrats in the November general election.
Clinton was jubilant as she addressed cheering supporters at her Nevada headquarters.
